HEALTH: HOW TO QUIT THE CURE

Don't quit cold turkey. Drugmakers recommend tapering off SSRIs (and always under a doctor's care). The rules for tapering vary depending on the dose and drug you're taking. (If you're taking Prozac, you can find information about tapering at Prozac.com.) But your doctor will probably suggest cutting your dose by 25 to 50 percent at first. If you tolerate this reduction for two or four weeks, ask your doctor if you can reduce further. If you begin to experience unbearable withdrawal symptoms, talk to your physician about temporarily upping your dose a bit, says Nada Stotland, vice president of the American Psychiatric Association.

Look out for relapse. Withdrawal symptoms appear shortly after anti-depressants are stopped; depression develops slowly, over months. Keep a list in your mind of what your depression felt like and make a resolution to go to your doctor if you feel it's returning.

Dr. Matthew Rudorfer, from the National Institute of Mental Health (www.nimh.nih.gov), has successfully helped many of his patients to stop taking SSRIs. And though they often experience withdrawal symptoms, he uses small, incremental changes in dosage to ease the transition. And he's quick to add that the risk of not treating depression is far greater than the risk of potential adverse effects. These pills can help you break out of the depression trap, but you don't have to feel trapped by them, either.

WITH KAREN SPRINGEN

© 2005