I wanted to share something about the why of coming off psychiatric medication. This isn't me telling you what your answer should be. It's about helping you find your own why before you begin.
If you're someone wondering whether to taper off your meds, wanting to learn more about what that looks like, and contemplating making that change, I'd love to share some of what I've learned.
I offer support groups and 1:1 coaching for those going through withdrawal. If you’d like someone to walk with you through this season, I would love to meet with you. My withdrawal was brutal. I know how dark it can get. I also know how real healing is. I’m now in a place of joy, health, and full life, and I want to support you on your way there.
👉 Go here to see my calendar and register
Why Your "Why" Matters
I think it's so important, when deciding about medication and whether to taper off, to know your why.
Because it is not easy. It is harder than what is presented in the mainstream.
If you go to your local doctor or GP and say, "I'd like to taper off my psychiatric medication, can you help me figure out a plan?" they will probably not mention the number of symptoms you could potentially experience when coming off. That's not to say some people don't have many effects. There are people who get off and don't have a lot of symptoms. But there are a large number of us who do, and who have very harsh and severe symptoms.
That's why knowing your why matters so much. You can't know at the beginning of this journey what it's going to cost you to get to the other side. You don't know exactly how long it will take or what symptoms you'll face. So it really helps to establish that why for yourself, and even explore it if you need to. If you're on the fence, do some thinking, some reading, some digging, to find out what your reason is.
I say this as someone on the other side, completely free of medications and loving life. I'm not saying it to discourage you from getting off, and I'm neutral about whether you should. But if you want to get off, knowing your why will help you weather the storms of the how.
Four Reasons People Decide to Taper
Here are some reasons I've heard, and that I had myself.
You're noticing the meds are affecting you negatively. Maybe it's personality changes, random symptoms, or side effects. You have a sense that the medication is somehow a factor in your life that isn't all good.
Curiosity about who you really are. Some people want to know: Who am I without medication? They want to find out how much the meds have been shaping that, and who they are on the other side.
Long-term health concerns. If you're aware there are health risks with staying on medication long-term, and you want to be free of those risks in your future, that can be a big motivating factor.
The chemical imbalance myth. If you've come across the research showing that the chemical imbalance theory has been debunked, you might be asking, "Why am I on this if that was never actually true?" It's not scientifically accurate that we have a chemical imbalance that needs to be corrected by medication for the rest of our lives. That idea was built on a pre-existing assumption, not established fact, and it was used to promote pharmaceutical products. A lot of people find that out and start asking hard questions.
I had all of those reasons. If you know your why and you just need the how, then evaluate your reasons, do your homework, and let that why be the anchor that carries you through the process.
The How: Slow and Gentle
The how for coming off psych meds has to be gentle and slow.
When you go to your GP or psychiatrist, they'll likely give you a taper that's maybe a month or six weeks. Half it, half it, half it, done. Please don't do that.
That is not a safe taper. It will not protect you from the possible symptoms of acute withdrawal. I didn't know that, and many people don't know that. The mainstream medical advice is not the safe way off psychiatric medication.
What a Hyperbolic Taper Is
The safer approach, the one that helps you avoid the worst symptoms and the most life disruption, is a hyperbolic taper.
The reason it works is this: as you get further down in the amount of medication, each cut becomes more powerful in its effect on your body. So you need to be cutting smaller and smaller amounts as you get closer to zero.
There are charts and calculators for how to do this, and I have a resources page where I've gathered a lot of information on safe tapering. The general guideline is a 10% reduction every four to six weeks. Whatever your current dose is, cut 10% of that. Then you wait.
Around four days in, you may start to see some symptoms from the drop. You weather those, get support to help you through them, and then stabilize. Once you've stabilized, that's when you decide whether you're ready to taper again.
If you're struggling and have a lot of symptoms, you can hold longer. What matters is that you're in the driver's seat. You understand your body, your symptoms, and the effects. You guide the pace.
Some people say, "That was a really hard drop. I'm going to hold longer. It's Christmas and I want to be stable for my family." That's the right way to think about it. You're the one experiencing the withdrawal, and you're the one going through the healing. The pace belongs to you.
Sometimes you can work with a clinician to prescribe the smaller amounts you need. But you need to be the one who understands how tapering works and how to guide it. A lot of this is transitioning from trusting mainstream medicine with your mental health to really taking ownership of that process, learning to listen to your body, and learning to trust your brain and your whole body to heal.
It's a whole-body thing.