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3 Critical Topics about Medications for Stress There are stress medications that are extremely powerful that can help you with your anxiety. And the determining factors involved with making the decision can be complex. Everyone that has stress conditions that are very serious should never self medicate for any reason. Depending on the cause of your stress, you could make your situation worse. If you are working with your physician, this could cause huge complications. The best case scenario is to take your doctor's advice and do what they tell you to do. A specialist might be the only person that can help you, which your doctor will refer you to. It's best to be active, participating as much as you can, in order to figure out a solution. Serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs) are a class of drugs usually used for stress. SRIs are normally used to relieve the symptoms of general depression. Originally they were for treating depression, but now SRIs are also used for stress. Being a "class" of drugs, there are many brand names available, such as Prozac and Zoloft. Don't expect immediate relief when you begin taking one of the SRI drugs. Normally, it takes a few weeks for the drug to begin showing results. SRIs treat a wide range of stress conditions and you can read about the many different uses for them online. They have been used to successfully treat obsessive-compulsive behavior, such as constant hand washing, and eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa. Your doctor won't just off-handedly write you a prescription for a stress medication. He must follow strict guidelines on who gets these drugs. Frequent, normal types of stress that we encounter day by day aren't usually the issues your doctor has to consider, though. Certain stressful events may be what causes your doctor to decide to prescribe these medications. These are more extreme causes of stress, such as being mugged, or raped. Many other types of critical stress may also include seeing someone being hit by a car, or Page 1

08 even seeing a beloved pet run over by a careless driver. The stressful situation may be over in just a few seconds, but the damage can be devastating. The effects may even last a lifetime and professional intervention is often necessary. If your doctor has told you that you should be taking a stress medication, then that's a decision you'll have to make. Don't forget, however, before you even begin taking the medication, to discuss any possible adverse effect that the drug could cause. Also, tell your doctor what other medications - prescription and over-the-counter - you are taking so you won't have problems with adverse drug interactions. You don't want to take these drugs without realizing that the side effects can be serious. Therefore, it's up to you to learn all you can about this particular class of stress drugs. Talk to your doctor about exploring alternative approaches, even though most doctors will discourage that course of action. Due to important, serious research, stress medications have evolved greatly over the last few decades. In addition, some drugs are still being used that were discovered decades ago. Also, drugs that are mainly meant to treat other health conditions are now also being used to treat stress. Therefore, you health care professional has a lot of different paths he or she can follow in treating you, including a combination of different methods as well as stress reduction therapy. Stress management is a successful way to handle stress and is another strategy you can choose.

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