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All of us experience worry and fear once in a while as a response to threats or uncertainties. Sometimes, you can overcome mild anxiety with techniques like exercise and meditation. But in some cases, anxiety can linger even with these remedial techniques. So, does it mean it’s time to seek help and consider professional treatment for anxiety? People with anxiety issues may not recognize the need for help if they experience the symptoms for a long time. Yet, when left untreated, anxiety can disrupt a person’s life significantly. It can make a person antisocial, affect productivity at work, and impact personal connections. To avoid such outcomes, it’s essential to know when medication is necessary, especially since you can consult a doctor from the comfort of your home and get anxiety medication online. So, let’s look at some of the reasons and signs.
How to Know If You Need Anxiety Medication
Patients are typically recommended to start taking anxiety medication when their symptoms are difficult to control and affect their day-to-day functioning. At that stage, a person is said to have an anxiety disorder. The decision is always made by a healthcare professional after evaluating your condition, so you have to provide extensive information about your state and symptoms. Below are examples of specific signs you have to pay attention to.
1. Your nervousness feels unceasing
People struggling with anxiety disorders have excessive fear and worry. This fear continues even when there’s no apparent disturbing situation and affects both the mind and the body. Our bodies react to such stress by increasing heart rate, heavy breathing, shaking, and sweating. Sometimes, these symptoms can worsen, leading to panic attacks. In such cases, it’s important to reach out to a healthcare professional to determine and resolve the root cause of the problem.
2. You have physical pain that you can’t explain
According to Harvard Health Publishing, anxiety can lead to physical pain, such as headaches, stomachache, and muscle pains. These pains usually result from muscle tension. Anxiety also lowers immunity which leaves the body prone to infections and diseases.
Body aches, especially in the stomach, can make it hard to eat and affect one’s ability to enjoy leisure activities. With time, anxiety can weaken a person’s physical health. So, if you have mysterious body pains in addition to excessive worrying, seek medication to relieve the pain and other anxiety symptoms.
3. Minor problems irritate you
When you pile thoughts in your head and try to solve every problem on your own, your mind struggles with the overload. Eventually, the pressure builds up, making you irritable, and a small trigger can be enough to make you fly off the handle. For instance, simply being stuck in traffic when you’re late for work can give you anxiety. Often, people with anxiety disorders express that anxiety by being angry and have challenges controlling their anger.
4. Recurrent thoughts keep you from focusing
A person with an anxiety disorder finds it difficult to concentrate on tasks. However, the problem isn’t the inability to focus, but focusing on the wrong things. For instance, you could be at work but think about the problems you left at home. Even though you had the whole day in the office, you might go home without completing most of your tasks.
Recurrent negative thoughts can entangle the mind, making it difficult to concentrate on important tasks. As a result, productivity diminishes, and stress from overthinking makes a person tired. If anxiety accompanied by a lack of focus begins to affect your job, it’s time to consider taking anxiety medication.
5. You can’t sleep because of anxiety
One of the most common signs you need anxiety medication is lack of sleep. Anxiety and insomnia are closely connected, and each can cause the other. Anxiety causes insomnia because the mind finds it hard to switch off from many racing thoughts. Moreover, nervousness keeps the body from relaxing and sleeping.
On the flip side, insomnia can worsen anxiety symptoms, leading to a vicious cycle. If practicing mindfulness, meditation, and exercise doesn’t help, consider taking anti-anxiety medication.
6. You have relationship problems
Anxiety can make a person withdraw from others. That’s even a more frequent scenario for people with social anxiety. If you don’t communicate with your loved ones, they might think you’re trying to avoid them. In return, they can also withdraw from you. Also, being highly irritable makes others fear approaching you. They’re afraid you might direct your anger to them. Such issues can negatively affect relationships.
If you feel this is happening to you, seeing a mental health professional and taking anxiety medication can help suppress the symptoms that affect your relationships.
What Anxiety Medication Is Best for You
Anxiety disorder can be treated using various medicines. Depending on the type and formulation, they work differently. Some can provide instant relief, while others may take weeks to work.
The best medication for you depends on your symptoms. On that note, your medical history and how your body reacts to different medicines will determine which drug you should take. That’s why it’s critical to consult a doctor to get the most suitable prescription.
Here are common types of anxiety medications and how they work.
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs)
These are antidepressants that clinicians use as first-line medications for anxiety. They work by preventing reabsorbing of serotonin by nerve cells in the brain. Serotonin is a brain chemical that helps to control mood. When available in normal quantities, serotonin reduces anxiety symptoms, such as irritability.
Examples of SSRIs include sertraline (Zoloft), fluoxetine (Prozac), and citalopram (Celexa). SSRIs are non-addictive, so treatment can last for a few months to a year or even more without the risk of developing dependence.
Serotonin-norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRIs)
SNRIs are antidepressants that doctors use to treat depression, anxiety disorders, and chronic pain. These medicines work by blocking or inhibiting the reabsorption of serotonin and norepinephrine in the brain. That increases the level of these neurotransmitters, which improves mood. Examples of SNRIs for anxiety include venlafaxine (Effexor XR) and duloxetine (Cymbalta).
Benzodiazepines
These sedative drugs provide quick relief for symptoms of anxiety. They work by reducing brain activity, which brings a calming effect and helps a person relax. However, these drugs can be addictive if used for a long time. Also, their effectiveness may reduce with time. That’s why doctors use them as a temporary solution.Benzodiazepines can be used together with SSRIs and then discontinued once the SSRIs start to work.
It’s Not Too Late to Start Your Healing Journey
Anxiety medication helps to reduce those symptoms. At the same time, as you take the meds, it’s essential to consider talk therapy as well to help you learn how to cope with stressful situations. While medication provides quick relief, therapy provides a more long-term solution. A combination of the two treatments yields the best results.
A person with anxiety may not realize they have a problem, and that can make it difficult for them to seek help. If you’re unsure whether it’s time to see a mental health professional and consider taking anti-anxiety medication, the symptoms mentioned above can guide you. And if anxiety is disrupting your daily functioning, contact a mental health professional and get treatment.
