'Continue or give up': a grounded theory study on the reasons for stopping drugs from the perspective of individuals diagnosed with depression.

The research was conducted to determine the reasons why individuals diagnosed with depression stop taking their drugs. This study is a qualitative study conducted using the grounded theory approach method. The population of the study consisted of individuals who were followed up with diagnosis of depression in a State Hospital Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic in a province of Nevşehir and who had experience of withdrawing drugs. The sample for the research was determined by the purposeful sampling method. The research was completed with 15 participants who agreed to participate in the study. The study was conducted between May and September 2023. The participants' ages ranged from 29 to 67 years old. The average number of years individuals were diagnosed with depression was 13.5 ± 5.8 years. Along with the themes, the sub-themes were misinformation (doubt, social discourse, lack of information) and unacceptable change (side effects, expectation, loss, hopelessness). Individuals diagnosed with depression stopped taking drugs due to lack of knowledge about the drug, doubting the effectiveness of the drug, and negative social discourse. At the same time, they experienced side effects due to drug use, various losses in their lives, inability to meet their expectations and hopelessness.