Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I really cannot understand why medications are the preferred method to overcome panic/anxiety attacks. Don't they just make you dependent on the medications? Have you all been brain-washed so much that now having medications for this and that is a socially acceptable thing? Just because Joe next door has 5 different medications, do you all have to have 7 medications to out-medicate him? It is like a "poor-me" mentality which is not constructive to our daily living.
I realise that the drugs companies are powerful and advertising is powerful but wouldn't it be better to find the root cause and stop it there? Just covering up the symptoms with medications is asking for trouble again further down the line.
Maybe I am being naieve, I dont know, but in my mind, getting to the root of a problem and sorting it out will always be better than covering it over.
well that would all depend on the root of the problem...
ive suffered from many forms of anxiety for many years now...
we tried to figure out WHY i have these anxieties, bipolar depression and OCD...after alot of therapy and drs visits its been decided that my form of anxiety/ocd is the result of a chemical inbalance...
talk therapy wont help me because theres no emotional casue for the illness to talk through...
i tried to go drug free for a long time but my anxiety is so bad that i often have a hard time functioning...
medication has made it now that i can actually survive on my own, im still mildly agoraphobic but not to the extent i was before, without the medication i couldnt even leave my house...now i can go to the grocery store during quiet hours (our grocery is open 24/7 so i usually go after 10pm when theres rarely a soul in the store)
without the medication my ocd was bad enough that it would take me over 3 hours of checking locks before i could go to bed...id literally start my bedtime ritual 3 hours before bed time so i knew id have time to go through rituals...
now, with the medication i still check multiple times but instead of 100 times checking the same lock, now i only do it 10 times.
i do see alot of mild cases being medicated before any kind of other therapy is tried, and many people are misdiagnosed or rely on the meds as a simple crutch with no interest in finding out why...and i agree that medication should NOT be the first and only line of responce...
but for those cases that need the meds, they NEED the meds...
I really cannot understand why medications are the preferred method to overcome panic/anxiety attacks. Don't they just make you dependent on the medications? Have you all been brain-washed so much that now having medications for this and that is a socially acceptable thing? Just because Joe next door has 5 different medications, do you all have to have 7 medications to out-medicate him? It is like a "poor-me" mentality which is not constructive to our daily living.
I realise that the drugs companies are powerful and advertising is powerful but wouldn't it be better to find the root cause and stop it there? Just covering up the symptoms with medications is asking for trouble again further down the line.
Maybe I am being naieve, I dont know, but in my mind, getting to the root of a problem and sorting it out will always be better than covering it over.
Out of sight is not always out of mind.
So, now you can have a go at me....
In situational anxiety/panic attacks, I can see your point. I recently asked my doc if I could ever get off of my meds. I had tried more than a dozen times without success and now on the smallest dosage that allows me to control my symptoms. My doc had told me that it was quite possible that I had gone through an extremely stressful period in my life over 10 years ago that has neurochemically changed my brain permanently. There is new research using brain scans that show this to be true.
This isn't PTSD. It is the flight response just happening sometimes randomly without a trigger.
There is always a trigger - whether it be chemical, mental or physical, otherwise you would always be having an attack and it would be at the same intensity continuously.
Anyway, the point I was making is that stress itself can change hormone levels and chemical balances in the body. This is well known. Diet can help too, however, since our body created this 'mess' we seem to have got ourselves into, isn't it sense to suggest that our bodies can reverse the same changes. After all, people get better from cancer with good attitudes, proper diet and some major work on themselves (gettting to know themselves better and changing their beliefs about life), so why shouldn't this work for other illnesses. All it needs is for people to be determined to take responsibility for their illnesses and to learn as much as they can about them. By this, I dont mean only experiencing them first hand, but learning how they manifest and what causes them in the body.
This obviously means a lot of investigation and work probably both in the library and online but ultimately it may lead to a better lifestyle and better life choices. In addition, you may be able to help others with similar problems to yourself.
The EFT technique I mentioned earlier has been used to help Vietnam Veterans overcome some horrific trauma and I cannot think of a better 'test' for a healing modality than this. I am not connected with EFT in any way, but I have studied it and practiced it on myself and friends and I have satisfied myself that it can do what the DVDs, videos and website claims. You may be able to help yourselves better than you can imagine and as well as being free, it all takes so little time to do the technique (although the resolution may not be so quick, of course).
I really cannot understand why medications are the preferred method to overcome panic/anxiety attacks. Don't they just make you dependent on the medications? Have you all been brain-washed so much that now having medications for this and that is a socially acceptable thing? Just because Joe next door has 5 different medications, do you all have to have 7 medications to out-medicate him? It is like a "poor-me" mentality which is not constructive to our daily living.
That is a very simplistic assessment and to be quite frank, a rather puerile way of seeing things. It's also inaccurate and grossly judgemental, and I find it quite offensive to see such dismissive and insulting assumptions and sweeping generalizations made about something that is so difficult to understand. We have enough of a stigma attached to us without you adding to it with your naive and obviously uninformed opinions. For many of us, medications are not the "preferred" method to overcome panic/anxiety disorders - they just happen to be the only thing that works. A lot of us have tried a complete change in diet, along with exercise, meditation, alternative and holistic therapies, various psychological techniques, etc. in order to get a handle on this disorder but many of us have found those things to be ineffective. Some of us actually need medication to equalize our brain chemistry and make it possible for us to function. What you're suggesting is the equivalent of telling a diabetic not to take insulin. To insinuate that our taking medications to manage this disorder is the result of brainwashing by the pharmaceutical companies and the corporate media, and/or a desire to outdo others as a way of "keeping up with the Joneses" is unbelievably disrespectful, degrading and insensitive.
Are you really that cynical or are your castigations and derision simply a case of unintentional ignorance?
Trust me, not all of us enjoy having to take medications in order to function in a way that healthy, "normal" people take for granted. In fact, for a lot of us, it's a struggle to accept and reconcile ourselves to the reality that we have to do so. Of course, I can't deny that there are some who fit your description, but those people are definitely the minority. To purport that all of us are like that is unfair and as I said already, incredibly offensive.
I regret having ever taken Zoloft for my Panic Disorder. It did prevent any severe panic attack, but it gave me annoying side effects and my anxiety was unbearable for the first week or so. It also gave me an inch of abdominal fat which I am STILL trying to get rid of. I can't lose anymore weight without my bones showing, yet the abdominal fat does not go away. Maybe it wasn't the Zoloft but possibly all the stress I went though at the time. I don't know. I just wish I hadn't ever resorted to an SSRI. There are issues I have now, that I have no clue if they are related to using Zoloft or just a side effect of anxiety. The abdominal fat, poor memory, fatigue are just a few.
I still have anxiety issues, to be sure, just not full-blown panic attacks. Anxiety is something that will always be with me, regardless of what I do or take.
I can understand why some would be anti-medication, but it really does help some people and I will not deny that.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
