Safety And Other Considerations
It’s also important to realize that the long term use of a mental health medication is going to have an effect on your wellbeing. Some cause digestion issues. Others cause extreme fatigue. These side effects can have a disruptive effect on your life.
Similarly, some anti-anxiety medications cause dependency with severe withdrawal symptoms if you stop taking it or miss too many doses. Some medications may also lose their effectiveness over time . Keep this in mind and discuss with your doctor when you are choosing the right medication for you.
I Need Relief And I Need It Now
So where does that leave you if youre suffering? Even when anxiety relief comes with side effects and dangers, that can still sound like a fair trade when panic and fear are ruling your life.
The bottom line is that theres a time and place for anxiety medication. If you have severe anxiety thats interfering with your ability to function, medication may be helpfulespecially as a short-term treatment. However, many people use anti-anxiety medication when therapy, exercise, or other self-help strategies would work just as well or better, minus the drawbacks.
Anxiety medications can ease symptoms, but theyre not right for everyone and theyre not the only answer. Its up to you to evaluate your options and decide whats best for you.
Myths And Facts About Anti
Anti-Depressants Does it really work well or just a myth? Shutterstock Images
There are certain myths associated with the consumption of anti-depressants that are hugely infamous. Some people believe these baseless facts and avoid treatment altogether making it worse. Lets see some of those fears and analyze the fact.
Myth: Antidepressants will only make you forget your worries and wont help to solve them.
Fact: Antidepressants will neither make you forget things nor will solve your problems. When you are depressed, you perceive your problems in a much bigger way than they actually are.
Antidepressants enhance your ability to think clearly and approach your problems with clarity. It will remove the cloud that is blocking your clear view and help you see things as they are.
This, in turn, helps you to deal with the problems in a much efficient way.
Myth: Antidepressants rob your ability to feel and put you in an emotionless state
Fact: Antidepressants are a way to positively stimulate your mind to resume proper functioning and make you feel yourself again.
There are rare cases of people feeling emotionless but that might be due to high dosage than required or consuming a specific antidepressant.
This can be controlled by reducing the dosage or trying a different one with proper consulting. In most cases, if taken the right quantity, it wont alter your personality or freeze your emotions.
Myth: Antidepressants make you gain weight
Don’t Miss: What Is The Root Cause Of Anxiety
Drug Interactions And Overdose
While benzodiazepines are relatively safe when taken only occasionally and in small doses, they can be dangerous and even deadly when combined with other central nervous system depressants. Always talk to your doctor or pharmacist before combining medications.
Dont drink on benzodiazepines. When mixed with alcohol, benzodiazepines can lead to fatal overdose.
Dont mix with painkillers or sleeping pills. Taking benzodiazepines with prescription pain or sleeping pills can also lead to fatal overdose.
Antihistamines amplify their effects. Antihistaminesfound in many over-the-counter sleep, cold, and allergy medicinesare sedating on their own. Be cautious when mixing with benzodiazepines to avoid over-sedation.
Be cautious when combining with antidepressants. SSRIs such as Prozac and Zoloft can heighten benzodiazepine toxicity. You may need to adjust your dose accordingly.
Paradoxical effects of benzodiazepines
The benzodiazepines work because they slow down the nervous system. But sometimes, for reasons that arent well understood, they have the opposite effect. Paradoxical reactions are most common in children, the elderly, and people with developmental disabilities. They include:
- Increased anxiety, irritability, agitation, aggression, and rage
- Mania, impulsive behavior, and hallucinations
What Is The Best Antidepressant
When it comes to depression, most people are looking for a treatment that allows them to feel happier, while minimizing potential side effects. There are many antidepressants on the market, and while some may work slightly better than others, most research indicates that the efficacy among approved drugs is very similar. If you are looking to find the best antidepressant, it is important to realize that there is no utopian treatment it is up to you to find what is most effective for you.
Recommended Reading: Can Anxiety Cause Nausea And Dizziness
With All These Options How Can You Choose
Your doctor can recommend the best medication to help control your anxiety. There are different types of anxiety disorders, so different medications may be better choices for your type. Your doctor will also consider your other health conditions and medications, and whether you have a family history of responding better to a certain medication. Since you might be taking medication long-term, you may want to factor in affordability.
Escaping The Web Of Anxiety: The Most Effective Treatment For Anxiety Disorders
Youre getting ready for a peaceful night sleep when you see something moving on the floor next to your bed. A spider! You yell for your braver-half to kill it. Your hero jumps into action. The shoe slams down on the hardwood. Thank goodness! Then you see the spider scurry under the bed.
NOOO! I cant sleep in here tonight.
Your poor aiming hero tries to convince you that its a small spider who is more afraid of you. But you dont see it that way.
What if he crawls on me when Im sleeping?
Your partner thinks youre overreacting and climbs under the covers. Come on. Its just a little spider.
Youre horrified! Arent you afraid its gonna bite you?
No.
You point to your mouth. It could crawl into your mouth when youre asleep.
With a roll of the eyes, your knight in shining armor turns in for the night while you sleep on the couch in the living room.
Why is it that two people can experience the same situation, but react so differently?Their perception! Anxiety is based on a perception of danger. By avoiding what we fear, we protect ourselves from danger or what we perceive to be dangerous. Anxiety is a protective mechanism meant to keep us safe. But when anxiety interferes with our life, impacting enjoyment and functioning, it has risen to the level of a disorder. This occurs when our perception of danger is distorted.
Cognitive Behavioral therapists provide tools and techniques to gain control of thoughts and reduce symptoms.
Read Also: How Do I Know If I Have Separation Anxiety
Comorbid Anxiety And Depression
Although the interrelationship between anxiety states and depression has long been recognized in psychiatry, extensive exploration of the clinical significance of this relationship has begun only recently. Data are accumulating to suggest that these 2 conditions occur together even more frequently than they do as distinct clinical entities. Some investigators have concluded that these disorders may reflect a continuum of the clinical expression of a single disease. Because patients with chronic anxiety often develop depressive disorders over time, it also has been hypothesized that anxiety disorders actually may be, in some cases, a prodrome for depression. Contrasting data suggest that GAD, in particular, is an anxiety disorder that should be considered an independent entity, rather than as a prodrome, residual, or severity marker of depression. Nevertheless, the coexistence of anxiety and depression in the same patient negatively affects his or her clinical outcome substantially. Such patients typically have more severe manifestations of these illnesses and respond less robustly to treatment than do patients with either disorder alone. Fortunately, with the wide array of new antidepressants available today that can provide robust efficacy, these patients now have access to new agents that can treat both mood and anxiety disorders effectively.
Personal Opinion: When To Use Antidepressants For Anxiety Disorders
It is highly debatable as to whether antidepressants should be considered first-line treatments for anxiety. There are people that are in favor of antidepressants because they believe benzodiazepines are dangerous, while there are other people that believe antidepressants end up creating more problems over the long-term than a benzo. Most professionals will not hesitate to recommend antidepressants as a safe first-line treatment option for anxiety.
I believe that certain medications like Buspar and Clonidine for anxiety are superior to antidepressants in managing pure anxiety if they work. When it comes to treating anxiety, it is always best to start with medications that are specifically created for treating anxiety and not necessarily depression. I have personally used Clonidine for anxiety and found it to be a pretty effective option for generalized anxiety symptoms. Additionally it doesnt seem to impede my focus like a benzodiazepine would nor did it affect my mood like an antidepressant.
Buspar is also relatively safe and is a non-benzodiazepine medication that has been approved specifically for anxiety. If you have just anxiety without depression, you may want to consider taking a medication specifically created for anxiety as opposed to an antidepressant. Why? Because over the long-term, using antidepressants can create a chemical imbalance and may even make you depressed.
Recommended Reading: How Long Can Anxiety Last
Ssris And Benzodiazepines For General Anxiety Disorders
Feeling anxious, worried, and tense? You are not alone! Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the US, and General Anxiety Disorder affects 6.8 million adults every year . When feeling overwhelmed with worries and tension, the first step many people take is to ask their doctors about medication. If you struggle with GAD, and are thinking about starting medication, here is some information about two of the most commonly prescribed types of medication: SSRIs and benzodiazepines.
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors include medications such as Zoloft , Prozac , Celexa , and Lexapro . These medications work on serotonin, an important neurotransmitter that plays a role in feelings of well-being and happiness, as well as thinking, memory, sleep, digestion, and circulation. SSRIs are currently considered the first-line medication for many forms of anxiety. If you are considering starting an SSRI, here are some important things to consider:
Benzodiazepines include medications such as Xanax , Ativan , and Valium . These medications strengthen the effect of the neurotransmitter GABA, which is the primary inhibitory signaler in the brain. GABA plays a role in sleep, feeling calm, muscle relaxation, and reduction in brain activity. If you are considering starting a benzodiazepine, here are some important things to consider:
Regardless of who you are or your thoughts on these medications, here are some essential things to know and do when taking medication:
Lets Get Specific: Which Ssri/snri Medications Are Best For Which Anxiety Conditions
What does it mean to be FDA approved? Before they can be marketed, prescription medicines must go through an extensive approval process to prove that they work and that their benefits outweigh their risks. It takes an average of 12 years for a new drug to hit the pharmacy shelves, and hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on research, development, and clinical trials. Note that the FDA does not actually perform testing it only reviews the testing process.
The FDAs decision to approve a medication is supported by reliable scientific data. A long, detailed document accompanies every FDA-approved prescription drug, referred to as the package insert or label. The approved label provides key information about the medication that includes the specific conditions that the drug is approved to treat as well as dosage and safety info.
Healthcare providers may choose to prescribe a medication for an off-label or unapproved use when they judge that it is medically appropriate for their patients. Off-label prescribing is very common for the treatment of various types of anxiety disorders but typically not before trying first-line options.
Also Check: What Kind Of Doctor Treats Anxiety
What Is The Most Effective Medication For Anxiety And Depression
Dr. Alan Hakim speaks at the Edinburgh Psychological and Emotional Health Conference about the uses of medication to help ease anxiety and depression, and what potential issues can arise with certain medication. Medication for Anxiety: Benefits and Side Effects. ADAA GotAnxiety.
People are slowly coming out of the pandemic, but as they re-emerge there is still a lot of trauma to process. Not only that,
Probing behind psychosomatic problems, hypochondriacal signs and symptoms or diverse behavior patterns one will discover a depressive core from which a depressive have an effect on will in the long run end up overt. There are many human beings all over the international which are affected by melancholy greater than what we will visualize. Healthy and balanced ingesting also can useful resource increase your mental wellbeing and additionally beautify your temper, in step with Harvard Health Publishing Like an automobile, the mind calls for to be loaded with top class gasoline to feature efficiently.
Cautions: Medications and nutritional supplements for depression and anxiety are best initiated Therefore, SSRIs are often the first-line treatment for depression. Examples of SSRIs include These drugs seem to be very helpful, especially for the more severe and chronic cases of depression.
Treatment Options For Depression And Anxiety
If youre hesitant to take antidepressants for anxiety, there are plenty of different non-medical treatments for depression and anxiety. Most of the effective treatments for both depression and anxiety that dont involve medications are variations of cognitive behavioral psychotherapy, Dr. Shelton says. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a treatment that involves changing your way of thinking as well as your behavioral patterns. Some CBT approachesinclude behavioral activation and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.
Dr. Plummer says that an alternative treatment that some patients with depression and anxiety find helpful is cannabidiol , a component of cannabis that doesnt create the high of typical marijuna use. Many state that CBD is shown to have positive effects for depression and anxiety, but too much cannabis may be associated with panic attacks, she advises. She also warns that this is not an FDA-approved treatment.
Some othernon-medical treatments may include the following lifestyle changes:
- Support groups
- Connection with supportive family members and friends
- Regular exercise
Also Check: What Does It Mean To Have Anxiety
Safest Medications For Anxiety
The first thing to realize is that different anxiety disorders require different types of medications. So even if there is a “safest” anxiety medicine, the problem is that your own anxiety may not be helped by that specific medication. Furthermore, different levels of anxiety may require different types of medications.
It’s important to remember that all medicines have a risk for side effects, especially medications that affect brain chemistry. In addition, everyone has different needs, different brains, and even different chemical imbalances that may lead to anxiety. That’s why you should never take any medicine without your doctor’s approval and supervision.
Finally, anxiety medications are not a cure. It is helpful to consider non-medicine treatments, like therapy and self-help, so that eventually you can wean off the medication.