I’d like to address some common misconceptions about daily medications used to treat depression and anxiety. These medications are classified as antidepressants or antianxiety medications, and work by affecting the neurotransmitters in the brain, chemicals that help transmit signals. One person can have mostly depressive symptoms and benefit from the same medication as a person who has crippling anxiety but doesn’t feel a bit depressed. Though lifestyle changes and seeing a therapist can help many with mild symptoms, if your depression or anxiety persists despite this (or it prevents you from being able to take these steps) it does not mean that you failed or that you just didn’t try hard enough. Sometimes you need some additional help for a time and that is okay.

Like most medications antidepressants or anti-anxieties come with a long list of potential side effects, but the doctor will review the most serious and most common ones with you before prescribing. Everyone is different – you may experience a lot, some, or none of the side effects. These medications are not “happy pills,” nor are they intended to make you feel numb or like a zombie; if you are feeling this way then it may be a sign that it is not the correct medication or dose for you. The goal is to make you feel more like yourself!

Often I will hear people say that they don’t want to use these medications because they see them as a crutch. I like to think of them more like a cast; they help hold everything in place while you do the work of healing. Then you take them off.

Many people worry if they start taking a pill then they will be on it their entire life. Though there are people who continue to take daily medication for decades, a vast majority will be on it for a much shorter time. Part of the process is a regular and ongoing reassessment. When a medication is first started, your doctor will have you come back in about six to eight weeks to see how it is working. Once they have found a medication and a dose that works for you we generally have you follow up every six months or so thereafter to see how you are doing. Timing, of course, varies from case to case. If things are going well then you may feel like it is a good time to stop the medication. If things are still not that great then you should continue the medication and check back in in a few months. These are not medications you want to stop abruptly; they can have some pretty unpleasant withdrawal symptoms, so your doctor will wean you off of them by incrementally decreasing the dose over a period of time.

Medications are not for everyone but having correct information is a great first step in determining if something is right for you. If you would like to learn more about treatments or talk over how you have been feeling please come in, the doctors at Rittenhouse Women’s Wellness Center are always here to talk and to listen.