Anxiety Forum

[siObot]

I'm 17 years old and the battle I though was over has just began...again.
It's been almost 4 years now that I've been dealing with "anxiety problems" now narrowed down to Agoraphobia.
In the summer of 2006 I was prescribed Paxil. I was on and off (very irresponsible on my part, I know) but I finally made the decision to stop the past December. I was doing very well all of 2007 ...and then I stopped.
The withdrawal was BAD but I though it would be over in no time, I kept hope that after it left my system I'd be doing things like normal just like I had previously been doing.

So now, February 1, 2008, my symptoms are back and seemingly worse then before or when it even started! I don't want to be on ANY medications. I have an appointment today with my psychiatrist and I asked him if there was ANY way possible to do this with out meds and if he would prescribe these drugs to his own children. He said it was out of control and it's true.

He prescribed me Prozac today and I am beyond nervous to start up on another one of these drugs! I'm supposed to take it daily until FEB.19 then we'll switch to weekly. I'm so nervous. Today I went into the office thinking I'm gonna tell him I can do this with-out chemicals....but that was some sort of false confidence...



I need any advice or insight. please.

[Robbed]

A word of advice here. If you want to deal with anxiety without medications, a psychiatrist is NOT who you want to be talking to. Now I know that in everyday conversation, alot of people talk about how someone they know might have therapy sessions with their psychiatrist to talk about their problems. But that's because 99.999% of people think psychiatrist and psychologist are just two different names for the same thing. In any case, psychiatrists generally don't do talk therapy in real life. A psychiatrist is actually medical doctor whose job is to prescribe medications to deal with mental/emotional problems. So in a way, asking a psychiatrist if this anxiety can be dealt with without taking medication is a little like asking a car salesperson if there is a better way to get to work than driving a car (because you would rather not own another car). With this said, you REALLY want to find a good therapist (ie psycologist or marriage and family therapist) who KNOWS about anxiety (and preferably, who has overcome it personally), and who is willing to respect your decision NOT to take medication. This may be difficult. But it is probably the best way for you o overcome your anxiety problem. Also, good self-help material can be EXTREMELY helpful in overcoming anxiety.