Step 8- Being With Pain and Darkness

Why this step is important

Developing a better sense of how comfortable you feel with mental, emotional, or physical difficulties or pain will help you be better prepared for possible withdrawal symptoms on the road ahead.

Getting oriented

Many of us have found that the journey off psychiatric drugs takes time, patience, and a lot of “being with” our thoughts, emotions, and physical body—sometimes in circumstances that are far from easy. Many of us have also found that the relationships we have to these aspects of ourselves, and the typical practices and strategies we have in place for getting through hard times, play an important role in shaping how effectively we’re able to navigate withdrawal difficulties. And for most who’ve tried, deepening and strengthening these practices and strategies has helped lessen the intensity of those difficulties. So gaining a deeper awareness of how you “coexist” with your own emotional, mental, and physical experiences, troubleshooting challenges, and developing new approaches in advance of a taper will likely make any obstacles that might lie before you feel more navigable.