Successful Withdrawal from Six Psychiatric Medications

On June 4, 2023, I presented my case report at an international conference held by the Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology. This case report was later published in an international, peer-reviewed journal called the International Journal of Healing and Caring on September 23, 2023.

In this case report, I presented how I helped a patient taper off six psychiatric medications without a relapse during or post-withdrawal. She has been off her medications since March, 2021 and continues to enjoy vibrant health. Here is the abstract for this important, pioneering, leading-edge article:

Abstract:

Currently, the field of psychiatry is beginning to understand the severity and persistence of psychiatric medication withdrawal symptoms [1,2,3]. Functional approaches have been proposed for some psychiatric medication withdrawal processes [4,5], but there is no consensus for a reliable method for guiding safe psychiatric medication withdrawal or resolving underlying causes of mental illness for psychiatric patients’ unique needs over the course of treatment. Consequently, mental illness is still generally considered a chronic incurable disease, and the use of psychotropic medications is still recommended as the best treatment option for an indefinite period of time.

To have a successful psychiatric medication withdrawal process without having a relapse during or post withdrawal, a patient must simultaneously heal from their underlying causes of mental illness and any dependency on drugs/psychiatric medications. This process requires sufficient understanding of relevant factors impacting the patient, which shift over time (and during the actual healing process). Factors that powerfully affect a patient’s mental and physical condition include, 1) genetics, 2) nutritional status [6], 3) healing interventions, 4) internal and external stressors [7,8], 5) toxicity [9,10], and 6) drugs/medications.

Given these difficulties and challenges, how can clinicians determine what interventions would be appropriate for patients at any given point during the treatment process beyond clinical empirical guesswork? Is there a method that can reliably, efficiently, and accurately guide clinicians to help patients resolve underlying causes of mental illnesses?

This case report answers these central questions using the example of A.S., a 60 y.o. woman diagnosed with bipolar disorder with psychotic features, who successfully withdrew from six psychiatric medications within a year without a relapse during or post withdrawal.

The patient began holistic psychiatric treatment in March 2020 after being switched to six psychiatric medications. She was psychiatrically stable and presented with the following symptoms: flat and numb emotions, cognitive slowing, and excessive fatigue and sedation. Interventions during holistic psychiatric treatment included nutritional supplements, gradual medication taper, and energy psychology techniques.

Criteria-based energy testing (CBET) based on principles underlying manual muscle testing [11] or applied kinesiology [12] accessed relevant descriptive information on function that guided the treatment process. For A.S., CBET was performed through self-muscle testing [13] by the clinician for the patient at a distance, i.e., patient and clinician were located in different states when testing was performed.

This case report illustrates how specific, clinically relevant data can be accessed through CBET to successfully heal from mental illness and smoothly withdraw from six psychiatric medications by 1) determining the patient’s underlying causes of illness, 2) adjusting nutritional supplements and medication dosages appropriately, and 3) providing proper timing for supplement and medication adjustments. Using CBET, A.S. was able to taper off all psychiatric medications and remain in excellent mental health since March 2021.

Download the article here Download the graphs and data for the article here