Medication for Anxiety and Depression: Pros and Cons

We need to say here before we get started that this article is not intended as medical advice but is just here for information and to get you thinking.

If you are already on some form of anti-anxiety

medication or antidepressant, keep

taking them until you get the all clear from your

doctor.

Hypnotherapy is considered a form of

complementary treatment rather than a replacement for mainstream medical

assistance.

Physical problems can be behind some mental

conditions, as the division between mind and body

isn’t clear-cut.

So please use common sense if you are

considering hypnosis as an alternative and don’t stop

your medication without the approval of your doctor.

But for everyone else who feels that they need help for a problem with anxiety and are considering the

options, including medication and/or

hypnosis, let’s get started.

Anxiety is a very common problem, and it isn’t just a modern problem, although

the modern world does have an increased level of low-grade stressors of a

form that are likely to produce an anxiety

disorder.

Researchers into the body-mind connection have,

since about the 1960s or thereabouts, found

medications that boost the mood and relieve

conditions such as anxiety and depression.

Although the use of anti-anxiety medication is very widespread, some people are cynical about “happy

pills” and the attempt to fix what is obviously a mental or emotional problem with

a chemical substance.

The most common form of medication used to treat

anxiety is a group of drugs/compounds known as SSRIs (which is short for “selective serotonin

reuptake inhibitor”).

These get into the bloodstream and work

directly in the brain where the nerve cells meet each

other.

Brain chemistry and the workings of neurons is a complex subject and has

something a little mysterious about it –

most people are astonished to learn that

something as intricate as human intelligence, creativity, logic and

memory (not to mention emotions and a sense of

humour) just come down to chemicals and electricity.

Anyway, what an SSRI aims to do is to increase the amount of serotonin knocking around in your

brain –

as the name suggests, SSRIs stop your body

reabsorbing the serotonin, meaning that it stays there

and does its job.

What is serotonin?

Serotonin is one of several important “brain chemicals” that affect your mood. The

way that these brain chemicals affect your mood

is a two-way street, in many cases.

Take adrenaline (also known as noradrenaline): your body produces it in

response to stress or danger, making you feel

agitated and anxious

but if you take a substance that stimulates the body’s production of adrenaline, you feel more anxious, nervous and agitated.

Serotonin works the other way.

Serotonin is a “feel good” chemical and when your

body has plenty of serotonin in the system,

you feel peaceful.

If you don’t, you feel agitated. By stopping the body absorbing its natural

serotonin, SSRIs help people suffering from

anxiety feel better because the soothing serotonin is

still in the brain.

It may be asked why anxiety can’t be treated by injecting serotonin into the bloodstream?

Find the answer on this presentation’s Part 2…