Withdrawal project shows how brutal medication cancellation can feel.
Everything is very simple. Ilia Apostalaki was depressed. He was taking antidepressants. The depression passed. And then withdrawal syndrome came.

Through the medium of both film and digital photography, the author documents the gradual process—from the first signs of withdrawal to the eventual full recovery.
Withdrawal explores a person’s relationship with the outside world, their isolation, and the eventual acceptance of fear.

By visiting the darkest corners of his mind, Ilia tells a small story about a little man. A unit of society, trapped in the cage of a 9-to-5 job, doing everything right. But then something external and enormous happens—and breaks the familiar routine.
The author is not concerned with causes or consequences. Maybe there is trauma, maybe there isn’t.
What matters is that there is hope. Something a person can hold on to—and keep living.

The project was presented in the form of a photo zine and self-published in Berlin in 2024.