Anxiety Should Be Treated With More Than Just Medication
Medication can be effective in treating anxiety symptoms. In some circumstances, for some individuals, one little pill can be a huge relief. Especially for people who are too busy to go to therapy, this is an attractive strategy. Why attend therapy when you can have your doctor write a prescription and just go on with your daily life? If only anxiety were so simple. Many mistakenly think they can get all the assistance they need from prescription drugs. According to our experts on individual counseling in Orlando, here's why they will probably be disappointed:
Medication is not adequate for everybody, and much research indicates a combination of medicine and therapy is the most efficacious treatment for anxiety.
To start with, not everybody encounters substantial relief from medication. More often, prescription drugs only take the edge off anxiety symptoms. For each individual who encounters a dramatic improvement from anti-anxiety medication, many others experience less drastic or no relief. It is standard for people to test one drug after another, looking for what they expect will magically cure them. But for most individuals, this is not a practical goal. Medication is only somewhat effective in many circumstances, and therapy is required to manage the condition or recover. Much analysis reinforces this.
Many individuals develop a tolerance to anti-anxiety drugs and require more and more over time to experience results.
Not only is medication frequently ineffective, but many individuals gain a tolerance to the initial dose prescribed by their physician over time. As a result, they need higher and higher dosages to gain the same relief. Unfortunately, with some anti-anxiety medications, this leads to a risk of dependence.
For example, many physicians prescribe a class of drugs called benzodiazepines for anxiety. These include Xanax, Klonopin, and Ativan, among many others. This class of drugs often has a speedy and substantial effect on anxiety symptoms, but it is also extremely addictive. It is essential to be conscious of this risk and take precautions. People who attend therapy often learn how to control some anxiety on their own, meaning they may not need to increase their medication dosage over time.
Medication often comes with challenging side effects That, at times, cause more problems. Therapy, though, is extremely low-risk.
Prescription drugs for anxiety come with the risk of many side effects. Unfortunately, there is no way to know if you will have side effects from medicine until you try it. For some individuals, the negative side effects can overpower any relief they get from their symptoms. On the other hand, therapy for anxiety is low-risk, while the advantages can extend far beyond managing anxiety symptoms.
Taking medicine alone might numb the emotional and mental anguish of anxiety so that the root of the problem never gets addressed.
Perhaps you think none of this applies to you. Prescription drugs have relieved all of your symptoms, induced no side effects, and you have no worries about addiction. With only medication, you feel capable of proceeding with life as usual. But, even if this is the circumstance, you might be shocked that this doesn't necessarily mean prescription drugs on their own are the best choice for you. Here is why.
When problematic symptoms are managed with medication, this can take away any motivation to deal with root problems that might cause the symptoms. For instance, let's assume you feel uneasy around a problematic and toxic family member. You take medicine, and the anxiety goes away. But now that your symptoms are gone, you don't care to work on the relationship. You are not motivated to understand why the connection caused you anxiety, your part in the relationship problems, or how you can enhance the relationship. When medicine takes away distressing symptoms, it can occasionally also negatively impact impeding growth.
We hope this helps you understand why medication alone is not always the answer for treating anxiety. Contact us today to begin individual counseling in Orlando. We want to help you live your best life.
