Yes to meds?

[xXxBeautifullyBrokenxXx]

I've been having a really hard time dealing with my anxiety. It is controlling my life and little things like when people don't call me when they said they would, have me bawling my eyes out and assuming the worst. I DON'T want to live like this. I've thought about meds but I don't want to confront my mother. Also, the meds have a lot of bad side effects and are addictive. I've read other alternative meds but I don't know if I'd be patient to wait for it to kick in. I thought about the anti-depressants instead of the actually anxiety meds like Valium, but some of the side-effects and that I can't take it when I'm having an anxiety attack bothers me. I thought about therapy, but I don't know if I have the time. I think therapy would work best because then I wouldn't need to depend on a pill. I'm not sure though, what should I do?

[JackOffJill]

I would say that you should definitely do therapy! Look into a therapist who specializes in anxiety and with young adults or teens so that you have someone who can more likely help you. In therapy, the therapist will be able to help teach you different coping skills for when you get very anxious, ways to try to calm yourself, and ways to recognize your anxiety. Usually (from my experience) the best why to go about things with therapy and medication is to start seeing a therapist first. Go for a few sessions and then mention to the therapist about possibly wanting to try meds. The therapist can then tell you if that would be a good road to take or if you should be ok with just therapy. Also they can then recommend someone who you can go to. I personally go to a practice where the therapist and doctor are in the same group so that my therapist can pass on notes to my doctor and my doctor can pass notes to my therapist so that they both are on the same page about stuff (I find that really helpful).

As for the medications. There are a lot of medications that are great for anxiety. Anti-depressants can be used to decrease anxiety and anti-seizure medication is also used to treat anxiety. There are different things that you can try and if you decide to see a doctor about medication- you can talk about all your concerns and they will help try to find something that will work best for you. It does take time to find the right medications, and meds alone dont solve the problems but it can help take the edge off.

[xXxBeautifullyBrokenxXx]

I wanted to take meds made for anxiety because I knew they'd work right away. But now I think a therapist would be better because then I'd have strategies to help calm myself and I wouldn't be dependent on pills I could get addicted to.

[JackOffJill]

Yeah. I think that seeing a therapist first would be the best thing to do and then possibly going from there to see a psychiatrist about meds. Because, in my opinion, meds are really just another piece of the puzzle that is used to help you deal with anxiety- therapy and coping skills are the other pieces. So meds alone is not always the best thing to do--in some cases it is, but I think with you and your anxiety that seeing a therapist should be the first step.

Also if you are interested there is a really great workbook to help you learn different ways to deal with anxiety. Its called The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook by Edmund J. Bourne. I have found it to be very helpful so thats something that you could even look into getting.

[xXxBeautifullyBrokenxXx]

I think once I start therapy the anxiety will calm some and I won't feel so alone and a lot of other things anxiety has made me feel. If the therapy isn't enough, I just want to take pills for a little while until it's on a level I can control better. I've been giving a lot of thought into what I want to do. Several of my friends told me to take meds and I'll feel so much better. One of my friends told me that if I didn't want to tell my mom so I could get help, that it 'wasn't that bad.' Which made me mad that she wouldn't be understanding about something I feel is taking over my life. I do realize, I have a lot of people that support me and love me and want the best for me. I'm just thinking about what would really be best for me. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with therapy since the meds have so many harmful side-effects.

[babapickle]

Originally Posted by xXxBeautifullyBrokenxXx

I've been having a really hard time dealing with my anxiety. It is controlling my life and little things like when people don't call me when they said they would, have me bawling my eyes out and assuming the worst. I DON'T want to live like this. I've thought about meds but I don't want to confront my mother. Also, the meds have a lot of bad side effects and are addictive. I've read other alternative meds but I don't know if I'd be patient to wait for it to kick in. I thought about the anti-depressants instead of the actually anxiety meds like Valium, but some of the side-effects and that I can't take it when I'm having an anxiety attack bothers me. I thought about therapy, but I don't know if I have the time. I think therapy would work best because then I wouldn't need to depend on a pill. I'm not sure though, what should I do?

I have once had this same problem intill i confronted my mother at first it was ard. I mean I was at first ancixes and then i started getting dizzy and then i had a secere. Its so scary belive it or not i have had 3 severe seceres and i almost hurt myself really bad. I ended up tryng to kill myself try one at a time and see which one fits you. If it mkaes you feel better i take a three i still lived.

[Ngikhona]

I also have anxiety and went through the same mental dilemmas as you. I don't know whether or not you show any signs of depression along with your anxiety or not, and only a professional can diagnose you, but depression and anxiety are quite commonly linked. I am a firm believer that therapy is absolutely key to handling any mental problem with efficiency. If you find the right therapist, which sometimes takes a lot of tries, therapy can do wonders. I am extremely happy I told my parents about problems I was suffering from and that I wanted to go to therapy.

As far as medications go, I personally don't believe they can work to their full potential without therapy to go along with therapy; however, if you do decide you don't want to do therapy and are only going to make a decision about whether to take medication or not, I would strongly urge you to try to look more at the positives of the medication as opposed to the negatives. While anxiety and depression medications do have their side effects, as all medications do, take into account how many people use anxiety and depression medication [as of 2005, 27 million Americans were taking antidepressants, which is about one in ten people (USA Today)] and find relief. As with therapists, finding the right medication for you can sometimes take a while and a lot of patience, but in the end you'd have a much easier time dealing with your anxiety. I have been on both anxiety and depression medications myself and have experienced tremendous results along with the help of therapy. I really never experienced any side effects except for one thing which was a freak case due to preexisting medical conditions and was easily fixed.

All in all I think that therapy and medication are both really great ways to overcome anxiety. I do believe that if you decide to try medication, however, that you also try therapy. The medication will calm your anxiety for a short period of time, but the therapy will make you really think about what you're worrying about and help you realize you don't need to worry so much and will allow you to eventually ease off the medication.

If you have any questions at all, feel free to PM me.

[Purple♥Sky]

I had panic attack everyother day and constant anxiety about little things like calling people, and going through the drive through. But now I'm on the genaric form of Celexia. I have had NO panic attacks, and my general anxiety has gone down by far. Tharapy might be a good option, but for me, medicine just took away the anxiety I didn't need and didn't have any negative effects.