One Good Reason to Be Cautious of Anxiety Medication

The Daily Telegraph, a United Kingdom-based newspaper, recently reported that, “Healthy people who take aspirin in the hope of preventing a heart attack or stroke are doing themselves more harm than good.” Compared to a placebo (pills that do not have any effect on people who ingest them), a study found that taking 100 mg of aspirin almost doubled a person’s risk for serious internal bleeding. For people who had recently experienced a heart attack or stroke, however, aspirin remains an effective and safe solution.

The study was conducted by F. Gerald R. Fowkes and several of his colleagues for

As ASN’s previous articles, Further Thoughts on Medication and Anxiety Medication – Don’t Believe the Hype, suggested, a healthy perspective regarding anxiety medication is always wise. This study is yet another one in a long list of studies that contradict our previous understanding. Aspirin, which was long thought to be completely safe and effective in the prevention of a heart attack, suddenly is found to be very unsafe for healthy people.

The same concept, therefore, applies for anxiety medications. Xanax, Lexapro, or any other anxiety medication that is currently thought to be safe under supervision of a doctor or psychiatrist may in fact not be safe at all. In fact, just like the aspirin, it may be doing more harm than good.

If medication can prove to be unreliable in many circumstances, then the question that naturally arises is, “Should I take an anxiety medication or not?” This is in fact a very difficult question to answer, and in the end, the only person who can really answer that question is you, the person who is consuming the medication. Here are some points to think about when you are considering taking medication:

• As this article shows, medications which are shown to be safe can often be showed later on to be harmful.
• Medication does not cure anxiety, but rather it alleviates the symptoms, making the emotional response to anxiety easier to bear.
• You will not be a different person a few days after taking medication. You will still need to learn thoughts, skills, and actions that will help to make you into the person you want to be.
• Medication is typically expensive, although costs can be reduced in some cases.
• Alternative methods such as exercise, healthy dieting, and talking to friends are effective (and never harmful) solutions.
• Any good counselor or therapist will tell you that getting better from anxiety is 90% hard work and 10% medication.
• Not all medications are effective for all people. It may take several months or years, several doctors, and thousands of dollars before you find an anxiety medication that works well for you.
• Medication can be effective if used after careful consideration and as part of a comprehensive treatment plan.

Overall, I sincerely believe that doctors and other medical professionals intend to help and can help, however, the medical approach is very concrete in nature and tends to only view things from one perspective. It looks at medications as “solutions to problems,” whereas anxiety is more of a “condition that affects a person.” Our bodies respond to medication; our selves respond to help and interaction with others. Medication can be an effective part of an overall treatment plan, but it is certainly not a short cut. If you are considering taking medication, be sure to keep these things in mind. Medication did seem to help me for a brief period of time, but as I note in My Personal Experience with Lexapro, it seemed that eventually I was able to live without it. Did I save myself from some unknown harm? Possibly. Did I even need to take the medication? Probably not because it really did not end up helping that much.

So, for everyone who hears that what you do when something is wrong is go and see the doctor and talk about some medication, be careful before you give him a visit. It might be helpful, but then again, it might not.

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