One, why use medication? Many patients come to the clinic with high hopes for psychotherapy and reject medication. This idea is shared by many patients, but it is very unscientific. First of all, psychotherapy has its own indications and is not a panacea. For example, acute schizophrenia, depression with hallucinations and delusions, and organic psychiatric disorders are not indications for psychotherapy. And diseases such as major depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder cannot be cured by psychotherapy alone. Medication plays an integral role in this. Whether it is a mental illness (depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, affective disorder, etc.) or a severe mental illness (schizophrenia, etc.), the therapeutic effect of medication cannot be ignored. Of course, the effect will be better with psychotherapy, just as people need to walk on two legs to be stable, medication and psychotherapy are like the two legs of disease treatment, using them together will get twice the result with half the effort and be stable. Second, how long does medication last and do I need to take it for life? In general, when patients receive medication, they have concerns such as whether the medication will become addictive, how long they need to take it, and whether they need to take it for life. Medication has its own specific treatment principles, and generally needs to be treated on a case-by-case basis. For example, medication for schizophrenia is divided into the acute phase of medication, the consolidation phase of medication and the maintenance phase of medication. Each phase has a different duration and dose of medication. Acute phase treatment is usually 3-6 months. Because schizophrenia is a disease with a high relapse rate, it requires consolidation and maintenance treatment. Existing research proves that regular consolidation and maintenance treatment can effectively reduce the relapse rate. In contrast, consolidation treatment takes 6 to 1 year. A longer maintenance treatment is also needed, usually over 5 years. Medication for patients with mood disorders such as depression, anxiety, etc.: Generally, it is also divided into acute phase medication, consolidation phase medication and maintenance phase medication. The acute phase is generally about 4-8 weeks, the consolidation phase is about 3-6 months, and the maintenance phase is about 6 months. Of course, the duration of treatment is not set in stone, but is considered according to the condition. Some patients think that they can stop taking medication after 6 months, this idea is not comprehensive, and the choice of the time to stop medication is based on the patient’s condition. Generally speaking, if the maintenance treatment is long enough, and the disease is stable during the maintenance treatment, and there are no obvious symptoms, you can consider stopping the drug. For lifelong medication, long-term or lifelong maintenance treatment is recommended for patients with schizophrenia who have recurrent episodes or whose condition worsens after discontinuing medication. Third, the side effects and addiction problems of the drugs can be used in the clinic, after several clinical trials and verification by the drug regulatory department before use. Therefore, it is relatively safe. Patients should tell their doctors if they are uncomfortable during treatment and follow their advice to avoid the fear of adverse drug reactions and return to normal as soon as possible. And it is necessary to regularly review liver function, blood routine, electrocardiogram and other examination items to monitor the side effects of drugs during the drug taking period. Only benzodiazepines have a certain degree of addiction, but far from what patients fear, short-term small doses will not form addiction dependence. Fourth, how to stop the medication and the problem of sudden discontinuation Patients can consider stopping the medication when they recover from the disease and there is no recurrence during the maintenance treatment. However, the time of discontinuation is determined by the patient’s condition. And there is a certain process to discontinue the medication, and it needs to be gradually reduced and maintained until it is completely stopped. Antipsychotic drugs such as olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone and other drugs need to be gradually reduced to avoid sudden discontinuation. Antidepressants with anxiolytic effects, such as paroxetine, duloxetine, escitalopram, etc., also need to be gradually reduced. If the reduction method is inappropriate, too fast or sudden discontinuation may lead to discontinuation reactions, even taking traditional antidepressants such as amitriptyline, doxepin, etc., there will be obvious anticholinergic rebound. Such as nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, general malaise, sweating, anxiety, agitation, insomnia, inability to sit still, etc. Therefore, regardless of taking any medication, the dosage should be slowly reduced according to medical advice.