Looking for Anxiety Relief? – 10 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Starting an Anti-Anxiety Medication
1. Do I Struggle with Anxiety?
Square one is typically the best place to start on any journey. When it comes to the journey of improving your mental health, you need to review your symptoms. Be straightforward with any professional assisting you as well.
It may seem redundant to double-check your health history, but it’s important to be confident that what you’re dealing with is truly anxiety. You want to know that you’re treating your condition appropriately.
2. What Other Anxiety Reliefs Have I Tried?
Although it’s tempting to leap right for anxiety relief in a bottle, understand that anti-anxiety medication isn’t a cure-all. Various anxiety treatments exist including some that you might not know about.
Your ultimate goal is to find a treatment that works for you.
If you’ve tried deep breathing and it just didn’t work, try something else—or try a few other things. While anxiety medication may be one of those things, understand that it’s not the only option.
3. Should I Keep Practicing Other Anxiety Relief?
Think about how you’re trying to cope with anxiety now and what you plan to do should you start taking medication. If you’re currently meditating or practicing mindfulness, do you plan to continue these techniques coupled with the new anxiety relief medication?
Sometimes, it’s a combination of treatment that does the trick. Like a one-two punch in the face of anxiety. Keep that in mind as you ponder on deciding for or against medication.
4. Do I Also Need Professional Help?
A prescription for anxiety relief medication typical comes from a health professional. However, once they receive the medication, many people question whether they need to continue seeing their doctor.
Much like the one-two punch listed above, working with a professional can offer you positive progress that you usually can’t achieve on your own. It would be unwise to count them out just because you have a relief in a bottle.
5. Will I Need to Take Anything Else?
Always keeping your physical health in mind, find out what your options actually are when it comes to medication. Unsurprisingly, when side-effects begin popping up, one medication can sometimes lead to another and another… and… well, you see the point.
Ask yourself what medications you’re physically able to take before you commit to anything. You don’t want to end up over-medicated.
6. Can I Remember to Take It Regularly?
Like daily vitamins, anti-anxiety medication can easily get forgotten during a rushed morning.
If you know that you’re not the greatest at remembering to take other pills, then you need to make a choice. Either you can opt out of taking anti-anxiety medication or developing a better routine to prompt your daily dosage.
Be honest with yourself as you do your introspecting so that you get the results you want with whatever path of anxiety medication you choose.
7. Is the Cost Manageable?
For every person, cost is going to mean something different. Again, it’s important to do your research on how much your insurance will cover and what your out-of-pocket costs will be.
Once you’ve pinpointed an actual dollar amount, ask yourself if you can handle the financial cost. If you can’t, are there other avenues available to you that would help cover the cost?
8. How Does It Work in My Body?
Taking anti-anxiety medication without even partially understanding how it works in your own body is the epitome of diving in head first. After all, it’s your body. You have a right to know what’s happening with it.
As it goes, anxiety medications influence the central nervous system to make you feel calmer. Many formulas double as a sleep aids or muscle relaxers. They’re fast-acting, too.
9. What Are the Side-Effects?
No guarantee exists that you will or that you won’t experience side-effects from the medication. But, it’s important to know what they are.
For instance, some people become drowsy, clumsy, or even dizzy. Others tend to be forgetful, confused, or deal with an upset stomach when taking anti-anxiety medications.
Educate yourself so that you can spot a side effect should one pop up.
10. Do I Have a Way to Gauge Its Impact?
Even though feelings and emotions are strong, it’s always a good idea to have a way to measure them from one day to the next. For instance, journaling is a phenomenal way to keep track of how well a certain anxiety relief effort is working.
You wouldn’t want to continue a specific method if you see no progress. So, do your prep work and find a sustainable way to gauge your anxiety relief measures.