Now, Dr. Smith stumbled into a provocative piece describing the research outcome (with some added twist) of two British psychiatric scientists. Like him, both experienced episodes of a major depressive disorder two decades ago, were put onto different medicines from same biological class, and were unable to come out of the treatment for the same type of unwanted side-effects. They also found thousands of fellow sufferers online from all over the world and the stories of their desperate attempts in discontinuation efforts. What surprised them most was the deafening silence from both the medical professionals as well as the industry. That’s when they took up the matter in their own hands. They collectively poured through thousands of scientific papers and online discussions. Then they devised individual slow withdrawal plan (remembering how the individual medicine took time for dispersing initial benefit), notified their intentions to their doctors, and embarked on the journey. Now, after several months, they successfully reached the shore. Dr. Smith read the article several times and collected the researchers’ scientific report from online. Being a scientist himself, he became convinced in their scientific protocol and decided to apply to himself, after notifying his doctor.
It has now been six months since Dr. Smith took his last dose of antidepressant with no residual withdrawal-effect. But, he also lost his skill of writing a flash fiction.