| ARE
YOU CONSIDERING ANXIETY MEDICATION? |
Home > Anxiety > Anxiety Medication
Medication can
be a good option for some people experiencing anxiety. The decision
to use anti-anxiety medication, or to make changes to your current dosage,
should always be discussed with a doctor.
Hopefully your
doctor will also make you aware of these considerations:
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Medication
may 'cover up' anxiety and other negative emotions, but will probably
not remove the underlying cause. Eventually that submerged iceberg
will probably crash through to the surface again, unless you take
steps to resolve those issues while you're medicated. Unfortunately,
medication can often dull the desire to take such action. |
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Are
the emotions that you're feeling normal for the situation?
Consider a good friend of mine whose husband was diagnosed
with terminal illness. This of course caused her significant
distress, and her physician prescribed [trademark name drug]
to help cope with the feelings. She revealed to me that as
she later sat alone in her room, realizing she was losing
her companion of 30 years, she could not cry a single tear.
Do you really want to numb yourself to the feelings of life?
Perhaps what you're feeling is normal for the situation. There
are other approaches, such as the MC2
Method, that can help you "manage" such emotions. |
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The
human brain can build up tolerance to prescription drugs. This means
that eventually you may have to increase your medication to higher
and higher dosages to maintain the same effect. If you should choose
to discontinue your medication at some point, you may find yourself
experiencing the same amount of anxiety, or even more than you were
before. And this could make it difficult to discontinue use. |
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Be aware
of the side effects associated with the medication(s) you are considering.
You can usually get a good overview of these issues by reading the
literature provided with the prescription. While they're most likely
listed in small print, some side effects can be significant - ranging
from sleep disturbance, to nausea, to sexual dysfunction. |
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It is
very easy for doctors, often burdened by heavy workloads, to write
a prescription rather than taking the time to explore lasting cognitive
or behavioral therapies for their patients. Resolving an 'invisible'
problem like anxiety may require that you take responsibility for
educating yourself or taking time to seek input from more than one
doctor. |
Again, always
discuss your options with a qualified medical professional. And never
make changes to your dosage before speaking with your physician. If you
should decide that medication is appropriate for your situation, we strongly
suggest that you also make a conscious effort to pursue more permanent
behavioral or cognitive solutions while medicated.
We are not suggesting
that medication is not right for your condition, but we do believe
that there are many people taking pills in situations where a non-drug
solution would be just fine.
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