consequences of stopping the medication, the research-
ers recommended.
The authors concluded there’s a need for greater 
recognition of clinical psychopharmacology endpoints, 
including 
instances 
where 
specific 
psychotropic 
medications may become unnecessary, redundant, 
contradictory or otherwise inappropriate and merit 
deprescribing. 
“The study’s most important finding is that criteria for 
appropriateness [of psychotropic medications] can and 
should be identified and not assumed,” Goldberg said. “It’s 
an active process that involves dialogue with the patient 
and a shared decision-making format, and there needs 
to be a very conscious awareness of the pros and cons 
of all medicines and the balancing of risks and benefits 
before represcribing, as well as the appropriateness to a 
diagnosis. Some medicines get prescribed that just aren’t 
right for the diagnosis.” 
In the study, the American Society of Clinical 
Psychopharmacology assembled a panel of 45 interna-
tional psychopharmacology experts who developed and 
completed a Delphi survey. They also conducted a lit-
erature review between January and May 2025 to iden-
tify areas of consensus or disagreement on key aspects of 
deprescribing psychotropic medications, including risk-
benefit assessments with patients, pharmacogenomics, 
managing adverse effects, assuring medication adher-
ence, drug tolerance or tachyphylaxis, medication mis-
use and the psychological 
context and ramifications 
of deprescribing.
The 45-member Task 
Force 
included 
practi-
tioners and investigators 
in clinical psychophar-
macology, with expertise 
reflected by publications, 
educational 
activities, 
academic 
and 
clinical 
reputation, and expressed 
interest in clinical psy-
chopharmacology. 
Some 
of the experts are affili-
ated with the Department 
of Veterans Affairs in 
Washington, DC.
Consensus 
(75% 
or 
more concordance among 
panelists) 
was 
reached 
on 44 of 50 final Delphi 
statements, which was 88% of the survey questions. 
The panelists unanimously agreed that components of 
a pharmacotherapy regimen should undergo periodic 
review to ensure that treatments target relevant symp-
toms and have favorable risk-benefit ratios, the investi-
gators reported. 
Key points of consensus included that deprescribing 
shouldn’t occur without first assessing medication adher-
ence and deprescribing merits consideration if less than 
partial therapeutic response is apparent or if treatment 
goals have been reached and relapse prevention is not 
a long-term objective. Panelists also agreed that depre-
scribing involves psychological ramifications that war-
rant attention and should be followed by close clinical 
monitoring. Also, risk-benefit decisions should ideally 
involve patient participation within a shared decision-
making model, the authors recommended.
Goldberg said he hopes these findings will encourage 
clinicians to review all of the medications they’re 
prescribing for a patient, at least on an annual basis, if 
not more regularly. The American Society of Clinical 
Psychopharmacology is working on developing a rating 
scale to assist with this process and even raised the idea 
of having a Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) 
code as a reimbursable procedure for an annual review of 
medications, he explained.
“We hope that this is going to markedly change prac-
tice patterns and make people more mindful about how 
Percentage of adults age 18 and older who took medication for 
depression, by sex and age: United States, 2023
Source: National Center for Health Statistics
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