Can I stop my antidepressant now that I feel better?

Feeling better is the medicine working, and stopping at the first good stretch is the classic relapse recipe: guidelines suggest six to twelve months of feeling well before tapering after a first episode, longer after repeats.

Never stop abruptly; discontinuation symptoms, dizziness, brain zaps, irritability, nausea, punish cold turkey, and slow tapering with the prescriber avoids most of it.

The right version of this instinct is a planned conversation: bring the question to your doctor, agree a timeline and a watch-list, and keep a follow-up during the taper. That way stopping becomes a strategy rather than a gamble.