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Marissa Lykins
English 1201
Professor Tyler
17 March 2021
How are medications and drugs used to treat anxiety and depression?

How are medications and drugs used to treat anxiety and depression? This is a huge question

many people ask every day. When people think about mental health, prescriptions never used to be

included in the mix of a diagnosis help. People all over the world struggle with anxiety and depression

and never feel fully like themselves without these medications. If it works for one person, who are

people to say the medications are not a good idea? Everyone has different views; many say these types

of mental health struggles are treated by your own mindset. How do prescriptions truly treat any kind of

depression or anxiety?

In the past we see depression struggles being labeled as the person being crazy. They saw the

other person as having serious problems; some attributed this to evil spirits. The first treatments for

these problems were exorcism because people truly believed there was demons inside these patients.

They would have priests pray over the patients, believing this would make their anxiety or depression go

away. More towards the 1800’s and 1900’s, doctors began to perform surgeries involving surgical

deconstruction to the patient's brain. As the 1980s came around, anxiety medicine became a more

prevalent treatment to be prescribed to patients. The view from then to now has changed a huge

amount. In the past they viewed anxiety and depression as an abnormality; now in today's culture, it is

reaching to be much more treatable.

Antidepressants and other medications have been found to have a lot of side effects in patients.

These can include, as stated by the Medical News Today: blurry vision, dizziness, headaches, gaining

weight, sleep problems, and many more. The medications such as SNRIs, TCAs, Benzodiazepines, Beta-
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blockers, Buspirone, and MAOIs all have these similar side effects. The biggest side effect of these

prescriptions is suicidal thoughts may increase while taking these. This is a scary thing and something

that needs to be watched and regulated for everyone who takes these prescriptions. It has been proven

that trying prescriptions is a great choice by doctors, but it does and will affect everyone differently; that

is why it is important for every person to watch for the signs. Some anxiety medications work for some

and not for others.

Everything from mood swings to suicidal tendencies have grown widespread in the last ten

years. It is proven that 12.5% of people ages 12 and up use prescriptions monthly to treat these

problems. Half of these users have been taking them for five years, and one fourth for more than ten

years. Long lasting effects and dependencies have been shown in patients through these medications.

When they stop taking the medications, they experience serious withdrawal, not allowing them to

function normally without them. In studies by the Community Mental Health Journal, we see a holistic

self-learning approach works much better than prescriptions, but there is no way to say this works for

everyone. Every person's mental health journey is different. Some are treated better with other options

than medications.

In Sweden they decided to test 2,803 people with these prescription anxiety and depression

medications. They tested people from the ages of 18-84 years old. This study showed that 50.2% of men

use at least one prescription drug and 66.4% of women. This study shows that the patients, in most

cases, experience psychological distress. They believe this should be more evaluated before medications

are given to people. From the evidence they collected, medications hurt some people more than helped

them! This study was important because it shows people who are not sure about using medications for

anxiety and depression, that in some cases, they do not work for certain individuals. This is a notable

example to compare with the other side of the evidence for treatment for anxiety and depression.
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When it comes to anxiety and depression, there is no one-size-fits- all type treatment. As said by

the University of Minnesota, the best way to treat anxiety and depression is to do the research on all the

options and see which one fits the situation the best. Therapy can help the patient realize the deep-

down problem and see what treatment is best for them. An example of therapy is interpersonal therapy.

This is focused on the patient’s relationships that cause the depression. A second behavioral therapy

helps these patients change their negative thinking and limits the distorted thinking of the patient. The

third is mindfulness-based cognitive therapy; this is for people who experience depression and anxiety

repeatedly. The fourth is dialectical therapy; this is designed to help with the people who struggle with

personality disorders. The fifth type is psychodynamic therapy; this focuses on solving the internal

problems related to depression. The sixth and final popular treatment is antidepressants. While these

may not help treat a person in some senses as seen in this article, they make the reactions into

challenging situations with anxiety and depression much easier to respond to. These are just a few ways

anxiety and depression can be helped and treated through diverse types of therapy.

Everyone deals with anxiety and depression treatments differently. There are many different

answers to this research questions, everyone’s treatment will be different and be affected differently by

medications that their doctor places them on. As the research is continued, finding people’s personal

stories is going to be important. The answer to this research question is not yet clear, but through more

research and talking with people who have experienced anxiety and depression, it will become clearer.
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Works Cited

“Mental Health Treatment: Past and Present | Introduction to Psychology.” Lumenlearning.com,

2008, courses.lumenlearning.com/wsu-sandbox/chapter/mental-health-treatment-past-

and-present/.

Leonard, Jayne. “Anxiety Medication: List, Types, and Side Effects.” Medical News Today,

MediLexicon International, 13 Jan. 2020,

www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323666#side-effects. Accessed 7 March 2021.

Huges, Shannon, et al. “A Holistic Self- Learning Approach for Young Adult Depression and

Anxiety Compared to Medication- Based Treatment- As-Usual.” Community Mental

Health Journal, vol.57, no.2, 2021, p.392. https://eds-b-ebscohost-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org/eds/detail/detail?vid=7&sid=d42e5756-a9e7-4bf2-9e7e-

a8ef17e68329%40sessionmgr102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU

%3d#AN=edssjs.68256C74&db=edssjs. Accessed 7 March 2021.

Sundbom, Lena Thunander, and Kerstin Bingefors. “The Influence of Symptoms of Anxiety and

Depression on Medication Nonadherence and Its Causes: A Population Based Survey

of Prescription Drug Users in Sweden.” Patient Preference & Adherence, vol. 7,

Aug. 2013, pp. 805–811. EBSCOhost, doi:10.2147/PPA.S50055.

“What Types of Psychotherapy Are Helpful for Anxiety and Depression? | Taking Charge of

Your Health & Wellbeing.” Taking Charge of Your Health & Wellbeing, 2016,

www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/what-types-psychotherapy-are-helpful-anxiety- and-

depression.
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