Deprescribing Antipsychotics: a Multiple Case Study

The literature on antipsychotic deprescribing highlights the difficulty in establishing a clear consensus on the most optimal strategy due to the diversity of clinical situations encountered in daily practice: who should be deprescribed, when, at what rate, what strategy to employ in case of relapse, etc. The fear of relapse leads psychiatrists (particularly in France) to tend to maintain long-term treatment, even if the arguments for this maintenance may be debatable due to an uncertain benefit-risk balance. Conversely, patients often request a reduction or discontinuation, notably because of the side effects of the treatments. This argument serves to justify the value of presenting unique clinical situations like those in this study in a publication. The goal is for readers to gain a practical understanding of the successes and difficulties of deprescribing in real-life situations.