New Guidance Aims to Improve Psychiatric Medication Discontinuation

Consensus statement from American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology offers recommendations on when and how to stop psychotropic drugs

Published on Feb. 26, 2026

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A new expert consensus statement from the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology provides clinical guidance on when and whether to discontinue psychiatric medications. The statement, developed by a 45-member international task force, reached consensus on 44 of 50 recommendations addressing when deprescribing is warranted, including that clinicians should periodically reassess all medications, always verify adherence before concluding a drug isn't working, and engage patients in shared decision-making about discontinuation.

Why it matters

Psychiatric training and research have historically focused on selecting, dosing, and combining medications, with far less attention paid to when and how to stop psychotropic drugs. This has left many patients on complex regimens without clear guidance on treatment duration or regular reassessments to determine whether a medication should be continued.

The details

The task force sought to address this disconnect by establishing principles for deciding whether and when to stop a medication safely, distinguishing from prior literature that focused mainly on the mechanics of tapering off a drug. The recommendations address what authors said is a long-neglected aspect of psychopharmacology practice, with the goal of providing much-needed guidance to clinicians.

  • The consensus statement was published online on February 25, 2026 in JAMA Network Open.
  • The task force conducted a review of existing literature and developed and completed a Delphi survey between January and May of 2025.

The players

American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology

A professional organization that developed the new consensus statement on deprescribing psychiatric medications.

Joseph F. Goldberg, MD, MSc

The lead author of the consensus statement and a clinical professor of psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.

Allen Frances, MD

A professor emeritus of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University School of Medicine and the chair of the task force that developed the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition.

Jonathan E. Alpert, MD, PhD

The corresponding author of an editorial accompanying the consensus statement, from the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Einstein, in Bronx, New York.

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What they’re saying

“The most fundamental takeaway is to not passively re-prescribe and renew without periodically stopping to assess the regimen.”

— Joseph F. Goldberg, Lead author, clinical professor of psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (Medscape Medical News)

“Very often, people were never given an adequate dose of the first medicine. It's never determined for sure whether it worked, and rather than raise the dose, another medicine is added. The overall result is careless, reckless polypharmacy.”

— Allen Frances, Professor emeritus of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University School of Medicine (Medscape Medical News)

“The relative lack of attention to deprescribing has often left individuals without clear guidance about the anticipated duration of treatment, while saddling some with unnecessary adverse effects, drug interactions, and costs that might have been averted with more critical reappraisal of their medications at regular intervals.”

— Jonathan E. Alpert, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Einstein (Medscape Medical News)

What’s next

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The takeaway

This consensus statement brings the issue of stopping psychiatric medication to the forefront of clinical practice and study, marking an important milestone in psychopharmacology and providing much-needed guidance to clinicians on when and how to safely discontinue psychotropic drugs.