Step 4- Managing Day-to-Day Responsibilities and Tasks

Why this step is important

Before starting your taper, stepping back from your day-to-day life to assess the errands, tasks, and responsibilities that you have on your plate will help you start to proactively think through a plan for how you might “lighten your load” should things get tough on the withdrawal road ahead.

Getting oriented

While daily responsibilities such as running errands, cooking, cleaning, working, driving, attending school, and taking care of others are to varying degrees a part of all of our lives, the journey off psychiatric drugs can, for some people, make these otherwise “normal” activities feel more difficult or even unmanageable for temporary periods of time. By carefully preparing for your withdrawal and tapering off in a slow, responsible fashion, you minimize the odds that you’ll come up against these kinds of challenges in your day-to-day life. But it can still be helpful to pause in advance of starting your taper to take a look at what you’ve got going on, consider possible difficulties ahead, think through potential solutions, and take proactive measures to lay the groundwork for those solutions if they become necessary down the road. The 'Inventory Exercise' in this step will help you take stock of your situation and figure out ways to “lighten your load” by reducing the likelihood of unnecessary stress.