Tried it and it was a disaster. All my friends warned me, but I did not listen. I was stable for about 2 yrs on meds (diagnosis: severe major depression). I was doing really well, had done a lot of therapy and I thought it would be reasonable to back off on some (not all) meds. I really want to get off of Abilify. So w/ the help of my pdoc, I weaned off of it. I crashed within about a month. I went back on it.

However, the bright side of the story is that I was able to cut back on some of the other meds that I take (Lexapro) to minimize side effects. Perhaps simplifying your regimine would be preferable to stopping completely.

If you do decide to drop the meds, make sure to have a dicussion w/ pdoc about "how bad" you have to get before you are willing to try them again. This will be especially important if you have a disorder that is likely to distort reality if you are feeling unwell (e.g., if you are bipolar and might become manic).

Looking back on it, I think that I crashed because I was dealing with more stress in my life than I realized. I could handle that stress with the help of my friend abilify, but not without it.

Remember, meds are not about being "weak" or "strong." It is about brain chemistry. If you need to take your meds, there is nothing wrong with that.

Hope that helps in some way. Good luck with whatever you choose.

EJ