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b Antipsychotics have a substantial limiting effect on the brain's level of energy. Antipsychotics produce an impairment, introduced to compensate for psychosis, which is worse by far than having a limit on the level of functioning. You can not do very much when you take antipsychotics. They prevent functioning at a competitive level in most employment. They make it difficult to survive in demanding circumstances. Antipsychotics introduce an abnormality, intended to treat a worse abnormality. 

If you have taken antipsychotics for a long time, such as a year or more, it is doubtful that you can stop taking these powerful, brain-altering drugs. Keep in mind that you were given these drugs for a reason. A mental health professional, such as a psychiatrist, believed that you needed to take these medications to be okay. 

You should realize that fairness and unfairness must be excluded from a decision to continue taking medication as prescribed. If you stop these meds, it is likely that you will become very sick. 

In addition to medication, you may benefit from cognitive exercises and strategies. 

A first example: If you have voices, you should not engage in a conversation with them. Instead, you should mentally label them as a symptom. A second strategy: Incorporate an assumption that your thinking is subject to errors due to the condition. When you assume that your thinking could be wrong, this brings up the mind's self-correction mechanisms. 

Filling the mind with content unrelated to "the self" is a strategy that can alleviate many delusions. This could be thought of as distracting oneself. If you assign your mental resources to content that does not connect with delusions, it will bring significant relief from them. Most delusions of a paranoid person concern what appears to be happening to oneself. For example: "There's a conspiracy to get me." Notice the "me" is in that sentence. Or, "I am going to run for Congress." This is generally a delusion of grandeur. Notice the "I" word in that sentence. If you fill the mind with content that gets you apart from your perception of self, it will help in the quest to alleviate delusions. 

Learning to unconditionally accept yourself as a valid person, (and this is accomplished through cognitive exercises) will make it easier to release a delusion. "Handbook to Higher Consciousness" by Ken Keyes Jr., a book which describes a variation on American Buddhism, says: "Love everyone unconditionally, especially yourself." This means that you do not have to do a lot of things to make yourself worthy of love. Just give it to yourself. The "how" of this comes after the intellectual understanding of this. 

(Concerning Keyes and "unconditional love": You do not let just anyone into your living room or into your life. You continue to have boundaries and protect yourself. However, in the process of this, you do not throw yourself or others out of your heart. This means that you do not condemn or hate others or yourself. It does not mean that you become a human doormat.) 

Learning to evaluate a thought is another strategy. Sometimes you can ask someone whom you know and trust, whether they believe your thought is real or a delusion. If they say it appears to be a delusion, you should consider that maybe it is. (This is not something you can try with anyone you do not know very well, since doing that is not appropriate, and, depending on who it is, it could freak them out.) 

And there are many more strategies. Since this is a weekly column that I am choosing to make as a 600 to 1000-word essay, I do not have space to describe them all here. 

However, keep in mind that by being medicated, a psychotic condition is not cured. Medication potentially slows things down to a point where you can deal with them. When your mind is slowed down, it gives you a chance to parse through thoughts and stimuli and to decide what is real and what isn't. 

A good clinical psychotherapist can be of help. A good therapist will not only ask questions, but they will listen to what you say. They will function as a mirror in that they will tell you what you have told them, with possible clarification, and they may interject an opinion about it. Therapists that assume anything you say is delusional, subnormal, or garbage, are not examples of good therapists. A good therapist should be able to take you at your word, unless strong evidence suggests otherwise. 

Therapists may be able to help you pinpoint delusions. Family and/or close friends may be able to help in a similar manner. Writing down your thoughts in a journal, not intended for anyone else's viewing, can help you to reflect on these thoughts, and decide whether the material is delusional. With experience, it will become easier to pinpoint a delusion. When you have done that, the power of the subconscious mind will work on your behalf, and it will take some of the power back from the delusion and hand it back to you.  

Just remember that being adequately medicated is the prerequisite to maintaining a basic grasp of reality. If you decide that you are not mentally ill and you do not need medication, such a decision, if not correct, will have bad ramifications affecting your future. 

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I am including a link to a book I wrote that has consistently sold since 2012, "Instructions for Dealing with Schizophrenia: A Self-Help Manual." If you would like to consider buying a copy, click here.