Examining Psychiatric Medication Tapering and Withdrawal: The Evolving Role of Pharmacists — A Conversation with Agnes Higgins and Cathal Cadogan

Examining Psychiatric Medication Tapering and Withdrawal: The Evolving Role of Pharmacists — A Conversation with Agnes Higgins and Cathal Cadogan

From Mad in America: Rethinking Mental Health by Mad in America

April 1, 2026 · 33 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the experiences of individuals attempting to stop psychiatric drugs, featuring insights from researchers at Trinity College.

Welcome to the Mad in America podcast, my name is James. Today, we are discussing the experiences of people who have attempted to stop taking psychiatric drugs. These experiences are captured in a survey undertaken by the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. Joining me to talk about this work are Cathal Cadogan and Agnes Higgins, both from Trinity College. Cathal is an Associate Professor in Practice of Pharmacy at Trinity College. His research focuses on developing supports to help people make informed decisions about starting and stopping psychiatric medication. He was recently involved in a priority setting partnership to identify priorities for future research on reducing and discontinuing psychiatric medicines. Agnes is a nurse, researcher and academic who has recently retired as a professor in mental health at the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Trinity College. She is a former Chairperson of the Board of Mental Health Reform, Ireland's leading service user organization, campaigning for improvements in mental health services. She is also currently a board member of Kyrie Farm , an innovative initiative combining the benefits…

People in this episode

Host: James

Guests: Cathal Cadogan, Agnes Higgins

Topics covered

  • psychiatric medication
  • tapering
  • withdrawal
  • mental health
  • pharmacy
  • research

Keywords

  • psychiatric drugs
  • medication tapering
  • withdrawal symptoms
  • mental health services
  • research priorities

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Trinity College, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Mental Health Reform, Kyrie Farm

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