Are Anxiety Medications the Right Choice for Me?

Anxiety is a very common reason that people consult their GPs. Medication is frequently part of the conversation.

This post is not a substitute for medical advice, and it is not going to tell you what to decide. What it can offer is a framework for thinking about things carefully.

 

What medication can offer

For some people, medication reduces the intensity of anxiety to a point where functioning becomes possible and therapeutic work can begin. Severe anxiety can be genuinely disabling, and the idea that it should always be addressed without pharmacological support is not one that holds up well against the reality of what some people experience. Medication, in those cases, provides a temporary scaffold.

 

What medication cannot offer

While anxiety medication can provide some symptom relief, it cannot teach the nervous system to respond differently. Medication cannot address the underlying patterns (the thoughts, relational dynamics, or personal history) that maintain anxiety. For most people, this means that stopping medication without also doing other therapeutic work, tends to result in a return of previous symptoms. The anxiety may have been temporarily managed, without being entirely understood.

 

Side effects and honest considerations

Anxiety medications can produce an initial increase in anxiety before improvement, which is important to know before starting. Other common side effects can include nausea, sleep disruption, sexual dysfunction, and emotional numbness. These vary significantly between individuals and between medications (one medication that produces intolerable side effects may be replaced by another which helps).

It is important to know that some medications used to treat anxiety (Benzodiazepines) are habit-forming. The process of coming off them can itself produce significant anxiety symptoms that are sometimes more intense than those that the medication was originally prescribed for. This does not mean they are never appropriate, but it is a consideration to be explored with your GP/prescriber.

 

How therapy can help

Therapy can offer a space to explore whether or not you would like to trial medication for your anxiety symptoms. It can provide a space to unpack questions such as: how severe are my symptoms, and are they significantly impairing my daily life? What else am I doing or able to do alongside medication to help my anxiety? Am I comfortable with the possible side effects? What does my prescribing GP/psychiatrist think, and do I feel I have enough information to make an informed decision?

Medication and therapy work well together for many people so the decision does not have to be either one or the other in isolation.

If you are navigating this question and would find it useful to think it through in a supported space, speaking with an experienced therapist could be helpful.

Dr Erin Reid is a counselling psychologist offering online therapy to individuals, couples, adolescents, and families across the UK and internationally, and 'Walk and Talk' therapy in Northwest London green spaces. Visit drerinreid.com to find out more.