Medication as a Phase-Based Tool, Not a Life Sentence

In Crash, the body is in freefall. Sleep doesn’t restore, thoughts are jagged, and the nervous system no longer trusts itself to hold steady ground.

It’s often in this stage that the idea of medication appears, because something is needed to create enough stability to move forward.

The difficulty is that many of us are harsh with ourselves when the word medication enters. We imagine it as a permanent sentence or as evidence that we couldn’t cope on our own. Because nobody explains it differently, we hold ourselves to an impossible standard and try to muscle through without support.

Others go to the opposite extreme, assuming they cannot begin to taper until they are deep into Expand, thriving and unshakable. That can leave someone waiting years, as though only perfection grants permission to make changes.

The truth is more nuanced. Research on depression, anxiety, and trauma-related medications shows that short-term use can reduce the level of overwhelm enough to make therapy, nervous system practices, or lifestyle shifts possible. Some people will need long-term support, and others will not, but the more important question is whether your system has other forms of structure in place—sleep patterns, grounding practices, community—that can hold you once the medication is reduced.

If you do reach the point of wondering about tapering, the next step is not to decide alone but to make the process a collaboration with your doctor.

• What might a safe schedule look like for this specific medication?

• How slowly should the changes happen, and what is the lowest effective dose to test without losing stability?

• How long should you remain at each stage before shifting again?

• What symptoms should you look for, and how will you both know the difference between withdrawal and relapse?

• If things begin to slide, how quickly can you return to a steadier place?

These are the kinds of questions that transform tapering from guesswork into something more grounded.

Medication in Crash is about creating safety. In Build it becomes scaffolding. In Expand it is a choice, one option among others rather than the only thing holding the structure up.

It doesn’t mark failure, and it doesn’t mark perfection. It is a tool within time, to be used in relation to the phase you are in, and it can be adjusted as you move forward. The real point is not to achieve a flawless state or a permanent solution, but to continue moving—to cross from one stage into the next without demanding more of yourself than your system can give.