Deprescribing is the planned process of reducing the dose or removing a medication. Many medications are helpful. Still, people consider deprescribing when a medication is no longer needed, no longer helpful, or may be causing side effects. People also consider deprescribing when they are on two or more psychiatric medications.
Common side effects from medications include weight gain or loss, sleepiness, changes in heart rate, headaches and stomachaches, or abnormal body movements (like tics, tremors).
Most medications need extra care to reduce or remove slowly, over time. Do not reduce or remove a medication without talking to your doctor unless it is causing a severe side effect. It can be unsafe to stop medications quickly.
Dartmouth Health has expertise in deprescribing psychiatric medications in youth. Ask your child’s doctor about reviewing your child’s medications and deprescribing.
Resources for parents
Option Grid: Treatment Choices for Youth Behavior Problems. Full reference list available from erin.r.barnett@dartmouth.edu.
Desk reference: Behavioral health diagnoses, treatments, medications
Resources for clinicians
The Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines: Antidepressants, benzodiazepines, gabapentinoids, and Z-drugs
Our team
The work at Dartmouth Health is led by Erin R. Barnett, PhD, and Jennifer L. McLaren, MD, with our collaborators at Dartmouth College Coproduction Collaboratory.
Our team’s publications
Our work in the New Hampshire child welfare system: NH SafeRx
Psychotropic overprescribing to youth: scope of the problem, causes, and possible solutions. Front Psychiatry. 2024;15:1418600. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1418600. Epub 2024 May 6. PMID: 38774431. McLaren JL, Zito JM, Fegert JM, Barnett ER
Psychotropic Polypharmacy and Antipsychotics in Children: A Survey of Caregiver's Perspectives. Community Ment Health J. 2022 Apr;58(3):512-516. doi: 10.1007/s10597-021-00845-2. PMID: 34057662. McLaren JL, Barnett ER, Acquilano SC, Concepcion Zayas MT, Drake RE, Leyenaar JK.
Psychotropic Use Among Youths With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Psychiatr Serv. 2021 Sep 1;72(9):988-997. doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.201900465.
PMID: 33882691. McLaren JL, Lichtenstein JD, Metcalfe JD, Charlot LR, Drake RE, Beasley JB.Deprescribing psychotropic medications in children: Results of a national qualitative study. BMJ Quality and Safety, 2020; 29:655-663. Barnett, E. R., Trepman, A. Z., Fuson, H. A., Aquilano, S. C., McLaren, J. L., Woloshin, S., & Leyenaar, J. K.
Supporting Shared Decision-making for Children's Complex Behavioral Problems: Development and User Testing of an Option Grid™ Decision Aid. Community Ment Health J. 2018 Jan;54(1):7-16. doi: 10.1007/s10597-017-0136-5. Barnett ER, Boucher EA, Daviss WB, Elwyn G.
Use of Antipsychotic Medications for Nonpsychotic Children: Risks and Implications for Mental Health Services. Psychiatr Serv. 2016 Mar;67(3):339-41. doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.201500272. Daviss WB, Barnett E, Neubacher K, Drake RE.
Patient-centered psychiatric care for youth in foster care: A systematic and critical review of patient-centered care. Journal of Public Child Welfare. 2018. Barnett, E. R., Concepcion-Zayas, M. T., Zisman-Ilani, Y., Bellonci, C.