An exploratory analysis of the role of social supports in psychiatric medication discontinuation: results related to family involvement

ABSTRACT

Objective: Individuals in psychiatric treatment frequently choose to stop taking psychiatric medications, but little is known about the role of social supports in this process.

Methods: This service user-led study of 194 adults who sought to completely discontinue prescribed psychiatric medications explores the role of various groups that may be a source of social support. Respondents who attempted to discontinue medication completed a web survey. We conducted bivariate and multivariate analyses to explore the relationship of social support to discontinuation.

Results: Of all social support groups, only family was significantly associated with medication discontinuation. Respondents who rated family as helpful in the discontinuation process were less likely to completely discontinue than those who rated family as unhelpful or who reported no family involvement. Additionally, we observed a statistically significant but nonlinear relationship where respondents who rated their families as either “very supportive” or “very unsupportive” of the decision to discontinue were less likely to meet their original discontinuation goal than those with more neutral ratings.

Discussion: The results of this study suggest families have an important and complex role in medication decision-making. Efforts to improve the quality of social networks should include family, as should future research.

KEYWORDS:

• Medication
• discontinuation
• family
• social support
• self-determination

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the community of individuals with lived experience who highlighted the need for research on medication discontinuation and inspired the current study. Authors particularly recognize leaders in this community, Will Hall, MA, Dipl.PW, Dina Tyler, and Monica Cassani, who conceived the study or acquired funding and were members of our Stakeholder Advisory Board, providing feedback on methods and instruments and promoting this research effort. This research was supported under a grant for the Psychiatric Medication Discontinuation/Reduction Study from the Foundation for Excellence in Mental Health Care. The authors also acknowledge members of our research team, Lauren Jessell, LMSW, Lauren Donahue, PMHNP, and Vanessa Krasinski, PMHNP, for their contributions to the design or to data collection, management, and coding.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Foundation for Excellence in Mental Health Care.