Anxiety And Medication?

Question

I've been through anxiety, I found my way out without meds through CBT, it seems to me people are just happy to take meds without doing any work, the meds make them feel better they think they are cured, they then come of the meds and they are back to square 1. They are happy just getting there prescription refilled, happy just masking over anxiety without finding the cause to it.

I was under the impression Meds where there to buy you time while you got yourself sorted with CBT and then come off, doctors are also to blame, the refill scripts without questioning it.

Are people going about this the right way or am I wrong?

Answer 1

I have anxiety/panic disorder.
I didn't have any symptoms of this until I had some very bad things happen in my mid 20's.
I was diagnosed with PTSD and along with that came the anxiety.
I know the cause of mine and have been through successful therapy.
I choose to stay on my medication because I don't want to risk going to that dark place I was in a few years ago.
My anxiety is under control and I have great coping techniques.
I have decreased my meds but I see no reason to come off of them.
I am under the care of a psychiatrist and see him on a regular basis. We speak about how I am doing and we are both take part in the decision making regarding my medication.

Answer 2

A subjective question. CBT is a very contemporary subject that seems to score highly with the media at the moment.

Drugs on the other hand seem to be a subject the media enjoys portraying negatively. They are are not necessarily bad from the perspective that they can be relatively cheap and can help people get on with their lives. Unfortunately I think sometimes the positive effects can be almost too good to the point where people forget about dealing with the underlying problem.

I guess this would be fine if the dugs could be shown to have no damaging side effects but unfortunately (excuse the blanket term) almost all do.

In the long term I believe we get more out of life by facing up to our problems so have a lot of respect for the way you have gone about dealing with your anxiety. Ultimately though that is a decision for the individual to make and it is difficult for me to judge having not suffered from anything severe enough to warrant a choice of drugs or CBT.

Answer 3

oh yes you are right, but i was given meds 20 years ago, to deal with my problem, is that my fault then or the doctors?, i put my trust in them, 4 years ago i asked for help nothing happened then 2 years later i went back im now on a 2 year waiting list at least, as there are not enough therapists, you are very very lucky you haven't travelled my path, but 20 years ago cbt didn't exist, and so yes now ive got to undo all the damage the drugs will have done ie: addiction as well as deal with cbt.
please don't be too quick in judging other people, who are on meds, i wouldn't have got through, living without them, & at the moment still wouldn't.

Answer 4

CBT doesn't work for everyone and sometimes when people get off meds they really are different even if they didn't do CBT. You can't say CBT is the best way.

Answer 5

Everybody is different, some people have a serious illness that CBT can't control. My son has Schizophrenia and couldn't possibly manage on CBT. For others it works fine, you need a diagnosis from a skilled professional to decide which is best.

Answer 6

The problem is lack of therapists and too many drugs. You should insist on help other than medication. It is the easy way for your GP who is not a specialist in this field and does not really want to know.