My Take on Prescription Drug "Treatments" for Anxiety & Depression

If you are looking for a solution for your depression or anxiety then you have numerous options, including prescription drugs, herbal alternatives and cognitive behavior therapies.

Reading this page, you will find that I talk very poorly of depression and anxiety medications. There are some good reasons for this and you will discover what I mean as you surf through this site. Prescriptions have caused me nothing but problems for the last 5 years. Usually, they are over-rated and end up making your symptoms even worse. The reason they call them DRUGS, is because that is exactly what they are. Taking prescriptions for as little as 2 weeks can literally cause dependence. And if you are like me, and you have taken them for over a year you know that you most likely have a slight, if not severe addiction.

Some drugs are considered "non-addicitve" but you may still suffer very uncomforable side effects when trying to withdraw from them. Question: If I am taking something, and I am trying to stop, and I experience severe side effects like restlessness, anxiety, nervoussness, etc., wouldn't that still be considered an addictive product? You make the call but here's what the World Health Organization has to say about addiction and dependance in a recent publication:

A need for repeated doses of the drug to feel good or to avoid feeling bad.

Experiencing three or more of the following indicates addiction/dependance:

• strong desire/sense of compulsion to take the drug
• difficulty in controlling drug-taking behavior
• physiological withdrawal state
• tolerance
• neglect of alternative interests
• persistent use despite trouble

"But my doctor says it works and it is the only way... "

Blah. Blah. Blah.

Do you realize that I have heard this statement hundreds of times.... coming out of my own mouth! Sure, at times, taking a prescription drug may help you, but the short term benefits are nothing compared to the long term, adverse side effects. There is a reason your doctor prescribes a prescription for you. Money!!

One of my doctors prescribed 3 different medications for me over a period of 1 year. Each visit to the doctor cost me $100. The prescriptions ranged from $50 - $150. That doesn't even count the additional visits I made to my therapist because the drugs didn't work and my problems persisted. In 1 year, I paid well over $1500 to my doctors and when I was done, I was worse off! (More on how doctors benefit by prescribing you prescription drugs in another article)

The fact of the matter is, that if my doctor really cared, he would spend more than 5 minutes with me when i told him about my symptoms. There is a lot more to anxiety and depression than just chemical imbalance. Getting to the root of what is causing one's feelings is the only way to find permanent relief.

Prescription mediciations can provide relief for symptoms, but they can not change your thought patterns and associate new thinking patterns with negative emotions. Recognizing the problem, and then defining real coping techniques is the only true method of finding long term treatment.

Author: Jake Van Der Borne