Validation Friday: The GGZ inGeest Antidepressant Tapering Clinic

In the previous edition of Validation Friday, we spoke with psychiatrist Christiaan Vinkers, co-founder of the antidepressant tapering clinic at GGZ inGeest and Amsterdam UMC (www.afbouwpoli.nl). This edition focuses on the tapering clinic itself: how did it come about, how does this approach work in practice, and what have been the initial experiences?

Tapering off antidepressants feels like a natural next step, but in practice, it often isn’t. Hundreds of thousands of Dutch people use antidepressants for extended periods, and for many, this treatment works well. But what happens when things improve and the question arises: Can I stop? That’s where the complicated part begins. While there is a great deal of knowledge about starting and managing treatment, there is far less experience with tapering off. And this is reflected in real-world practice: uncertainty, relapse, withdrawal symptoms, and often a lack of proper guidance. The GGZ inGeest tapering clinic was created to bridge that gap by providing additional knowledge and expertise.

What does that look like in practice?

The tapering clinic operates on a blended model: a combination of in-person or video consultations and digital support. This allows people from all over the Netherlands to access the clinic. The clinic operates according to the “digital unless” principle. Not because care must be digital, but because this approach makes it possible to support patients more frequently, flexibly, and effectively during the tapering process.

This digital component isn’t an afterthought; rather, it’s the foundation of how care is structured. Through the Minddistrict platform, patients are guided and monitored throughout the entire process, from intake to aftercare. This begins right at the intake, which focuses not only on the desire to taper off but also on the full context: medication use, mental stability, and past experiences.

During the tapering process, continuous monitoring takes place via the platform:

• how the patient is doing
• whether withdrawal symptoms arise
• whether there are signs of relapse

Patients complete questionnaires, keep diaries, and have direct contact with their practitioner via chat or video calls. This combination ensures that care doesn’t just take place during appointments but extends into the patient’s daily life. It is precisely this accessible means of contact via chat that patients find so convenient. Because both the patient and the practitioner can respond in between appointments, they can quickly coordinate without needing to schedule an appointment right away.

And that, in fact, proves to be crucial. When symptoms worsen, adjustments can be made quickly and directly. For example, by temporarily pausing the tapering process or adjusting the pace. As seen in the outpatient clinic’s practice, this continuous monitoring and easy coordination often makes the difference between stabilization and relapse.

The next step

The tapering clinic’s ambition extends beyond patient care alone. The goal is to evolve into a center of expertise where knowledge about tapering is developed, gathered, and shared with primary care physicians, psychiatrists, and patient organizations. This role is sorely needed. Although the number of people using antidepressants remains high, there is still relatively little knowledge about tapering them off.

The Tapering Clinic seeks to contribute to this by combining practical experience with the development of knowledge and expertise, and by feeding those insights back into the healthcare system.

What we can learn from this

Good care is not just about effective treatment; it also requires attention to what comes next. Tapering is not a side issue but an essential part of the care pathway. And there is still much room for improvement in this area.

The tapering clinic demonstrates how specialized guidance, continuous monitoring, and accessible support can reinforce one another during the tapering of antidepressants.