The Truth About Tapering Off Psychiatric Medications

Jun 23, 2025

In this insightful discussion, Dr. Anders Sørensen, a Danish psychologist with a PhD in psychiatry, shares his expertise on tapering off psychiatric medications. He emphasizes the importance of tailored strategies and the psychological challenges of withdrawal. Listeners will learn how withdrawal can mimic relapse, the critical role of psychotherapy during the process, and why current clinical guidelines often overlook the nuanced experiences of long-term patients. Dr. Sørensen advocates for a holistic approach that includes lifestyle interventions to support emotional well-being.

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ANECDOTE

Therapy challenge on meds

Anders Sørensen found therapy hard to do when patients were on psychiatric meds because emotions were numbed.
He trusted client experiences to realize drug withdrawal was harder than taught and started researching and practicing tapering.

INSIGHT

Guidelines miss long-term withdrawal

Current withdrawal guidelines derive from short-term studies lasting 8 to 12 weeks, not long-term use.
This discrepancy causes withdrawal to be misunderstood as relapse or personal fault.

INSIGHT

Brain adapts to synthetic drugs

Psychiatric drugs are synthetic substances that alter brain chemistry.
The brain adapts to these drugs by counteracting their effects, which leads to withdrawal symptoms when tapering.

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Have you ever thought about stopping psychiatric medications? Maybe you have tried it.

If so, you’re not alone. Many individual across the world have considered or tried stopping their psychiatric medications and success is variable.

The withdrawal from psychiatric medication tapering can be incredibly complex, and doing it safely requires both medical and psychological support.

But, as Dr. Anders Sørensen highlights in this interview, the guidelines around medication tapering and withdrawal miss a lot of important nuances that can prevent people from being successful.

In this interview, psychologist and PhD researcher Dr. Anders Sørensen shares his decade-long experience helping people taper off psychiatric medications. He covers the biological and emotional aspects of withdrawal, the science behind tapering strategies like hyperbolic tapering, and why psychotherapy plays a vital role during and after the process. You'll also learn how short-term clinical studies shaped medical guidelines and why those guidelines may not reflect the lived experience of long-term patients.

In this video, you'll also learn:

Why withdrawal can feel like relapse—and how to tell the difference
What makes tapering more complex than just reducing the dose
How to understand withdrawal symptoms and avoid severe outcomes
Why “tapering to something” (like therapy or metabolic interventions) matters
How psychotherapy can support emotional reintegration once medications are gone

Watch for Dr. Sørensen’s forthcoming book “Crossing Zero: The Art and Science of Coming and Staying Off Psychiatric Drugs” coming in summer 2025.

Expert Featured:

Dr. Anders Sørensen
X: https://x.com/_AndersSorensen
Substack: https://crossingzero.substack.com/
Book Coming Soon: https://crossingzero.substack.com/p/curious-about-the-book

Resources Mentioned:

Clinical practice guideline recommendations on tapering and discontinuing antidepressants for depression: a systematic review

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35173954/

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Learn more about metabolic psychiatry and find helpful resources at https://metabolicmind.org/

About us:Metabolic Mind is a non-profit initiative of Baszucki Group working to transform the study and treatment of mental disorders by exploring the connection between metabolism and brain health. We leverage the science of metabolic psychiatry and personal stories to offer education, community, and hope to people struggling with mental health challenges and those who care for them.

Our channel is for informational purposes only. We are not providing individual or group medical or healthcare advice nor establishing a provider-patient relationship. Many of the interventions we discuss can have dramatic or potentially dangerous effects if done without proper supervision. Consult your healthcare provider before changing your lifestyle or medications.