Medication Withdrawal: Myths That Get in the Way of Treatment

Many patients are afraid to take psychiatric medications long-term, convinced they will inevitably become "addicted." This fear tends to lead to one of two opposite mistakes: either refusing necessary treatment altogether, or stopping the medication on their own, without medical supervision.

Myth one: "If I've been taking a pill for years, I must be dependent"

Dependence is a specific mechanism: you take one dose, it stops working after a while, and soon you need double the amount — then four times as much. Tolerance to the dose keeps growing. But if you take the same dose, it manages your symptoms, and the dose does not increase — that is not dependence, that is treatment. Dr. Saulitis compares this to insulin in diabetes: no one calls a diabetic patient "addicted to insulin" — they are simply treating their condition.

Myth two: "Withdrawal syndrome" as a catch-all explanation for any discomfort

When anxiety, insomnia, or other symptoms return after stopping a medication, people often attribute this to "withdrawal." However, the doctor points out that what typically returns is the very same original symptomatology the medication was prescribed for in the first place. This is not withdrawal — it is a signal that the underlying cause has not been addressed. The right path is not to fight "withdrawal," but to identify and treat the root cause, and if needed, find an alternative approach.

The key mistake: prescribing or stopping medication on your own

A medication is prescribed by a doctor — and discontinued by a doctor. Self-prescribing or stopping a medication without supervision is categorically unacceptable. If a medication no longer feels right or you want to stop taking it, the only correct step is to discuss this with a specialist and work out a plan together: either treat the root cause through a parallel method, or find a suitable alternative.