Withdrawal from addictive substances

There are hundreds of drugs, including prescription drugs (pharmaceuticals), that when discontinued result in harm.  Rebound withdrawal effects may last for over a year.

Symptoms can include:

• Severe anxiety or panic
• Crippling insomnia
• Depression or emotional numbness
• Suicidal thoughts or compulsions
• Physical symptoms like tremors, dizziness, nausea, or “brain zaps”

In many cases, withdrawal is something unfamiliar. People often describe feeling unrecognizable to themselves. Emotionally volatile one moment, frighteningly numb the next. Desperate and unsafe in ways they never were before.