[Clinical advice facilitating withdrawal of benzodiazepines]

This article summarizes a clinical approach aiming at facilitating withdrawal of benzodiazepines. The authors underline the importance of a medical evaluation in order to identify reasons that have led to the use and maintaining of a pharmacological treatment and to better understand the reasons and motivation of the patient to cease his medication. During this assessment, it is important to inform the patient to gradually reduce his medication in order to diminish the severity of side effects expected during withdrawal. A step by step approach where the patient actively participates in decisions is proposed to reduce the anxiety, but also to prevent the patient from taking unilateral initiatives that would go against an approach aiming at optimizing the success of withdrawal. Some clinical vignettes are presented to illustrate the steps of withdrawal as well as situations where reducing or even stopping medication is difficult.