Coming off psychiatric medication

Explains why you might decide to come off psychiatric medication, how to do this safely and where you can go for support. Also includes tips for friends and family wanting to support someone who is coming off medication.

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What alternatives to medication are there?

Some people find alternatives to psychiatric medication can help, especially as a way of getting additional support while coming off medication. These include:

Talking therapy and counselling
Arts and creative therapies
Complementary and alternative therapies

Talking therapy and counselling

Talking therapies and counselling give you an opportunity to talk through feelings such as:

anxieties about whether you will be able to manage without medication
re-adjusting to your feelings – your medication may have suppressed your emotions or creativity, so you have to learn to cope with them in other ways
changes in your relationships, especially if people close to you are unhappy with your decisions.

See our pages on talking therapy and counselling for more information.

Arts and creative therapies

Art, music, dance, drama or writing can all be very helpful and supportive ways of expressing your feelings, as well as being a way to enjoy and distract yourself.

There may be groups in your area or you may prefer to try these on your own. Groups may be quite informal or may be run by qualified therapists.

For formal therapy, you may be able to get a referral to an arts therapist through your GP or mental health team.

See our pages on arts and creative therapies for more information.

Complementary and alternative therapies

Complementary and alternative therapies take a holistic approach to your physical and mental health. This means that they consider all aspects of your physical and emotional wellbeing as a whole, rather than treating particular symptoms separately.

They include activities like yoga, mindfulness, massage, aromatherapy and acupuncture.

See our pages on complementary and alternative therapies for more information.

A journey to recovery through art

I was ruminating and over analysing every decision to such an extent that I even did it unconsciously when asleep. But when I paint I lose sense of time and the anxious thoughts are no longer there.

Read Andy's story

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This information was published in April 2021. We will revise it in 2024.

References and bibliography available on request.

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