“How do I know if I need medication for anxiety?”

Thank you for your question! Honestly, it depends. Most of the time, anxiety that is severe or accompanied by panic attacks will require medication. However, it is not always necessary. The gold standard treatment for generalized anxiety disorder is cognitive behavioral therapy. This therapy you can do with or without taking medication. However, it is recommended that if your anxiety is severe or if you have panic attacks that you do both cognitive behavioral therapy and medication. I hope this was helpful! Thanks again for your question!

Hello, As you probably know, anxiety is associated with symptoms which can range from mild to severe. The fight / freeze / flight response can be provoked by external threats to your sense of well being and your own thoughts / feelings / conduct making one struggle within, and, frequently a combination of external and internal factors. Anxiety can be context specific or generalized across contexts. Anxiety responses vary due to individual differences. Also, the way a person responds to the idea of taking medication varies from. am I so messed up I need medication, to its just another pill, so what. Both therapy and medication can be effective. Sometimes an individual will be treated by both. With respect to individual difference, do you prefer one over the other? Medications help alleviate symptoms. Therapy helps you to garner coping strategies and techniques. If the symptoms are in the milder range you can take anti-anxiety medications PRN (as needed), try to learn effective coping skills through self help, or talk to a trained professional. Moderate to severe anxiety typically requires both medication and therapy. Severe anxiety disorders, such as Generalized Anxiety Disorders, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders and Post Traumatic Stress Disorders are usually treated with anti-depressants not anti-anxiety medications. Anti-anxiety medications do not have to reach a steady state in your circulatory system but can cause dependency. Anti-depressants have to be taken consistently but are not addictive. Cutting research is showing the positive impact of hallucinatory agents to reduce the symptoms of PTSD. The decision to try medication depends on the severity of symptoms, Are your symptoms situation-specific or ever-present? In general, are you for, neutral, or, against taking medications? Are you the type of person who wants symptom alleviation or would you prefer to learn skill sets to combat your symptoms. Our governments reaction to the opioid crisis makes physicians less inclined to prescribe not only pain-killers but any medications which are habit forming. Anti-anxiety medications can be habit forming. Anti-depressants are not. Many individuals find it difficult to schedule appointments with Primary Care Physicians, let alone specialists, like Psychiatrists. Many Psychiatrists do not accept insurance. Before the industrialization of health care, whether the prescribing physician was a generalist or a specialists, individuals were scheduled frequently in the beginning of treatment with medication so the prescribing physician could observe, listen to testimony, judge the impact of the initial dose and fine-tune the dosage. Practitioners, in general practice, usually cannot provide the time to fine-tune and Specialists who do not accept insurance can be quite expensive. It is recommended the aforementioned factors are considered when one is deciding to weigh the medication option. Intolerable symptoms across contexts which significantly degrade functional competency favors trying medication. If you have a positive relationship with your general practitioner, discuss the options and do your own research. I know this proposed course of action is onerous but it will help you make the more prudent decision when it comes to trying the medication option.

You will need to be evaluated by a mental health professional qualified to make such an assessment. While you may suspect that you need medication, that is not necessarily so. You may need psychotherapy alone. So get a referral asap. Marilyn Benoit MD

In my practice, I try to provide coping skills and identify changes to routines/activities before jumping into medication management of anxiety. If an individual is not able to master/utilize these skills because the intensity of the emotions is always extremely high, that is when we talk about starting medication.