Favorite 0 Featuring Dr. Jeff Chamberlain, MD · November 03 2011 at 10:37 am

Dr. Jeff Chamberlain walks us through traditional anxiety medications and the proper way to utilize them in working through anxiety. Gerry Barnaby (host)-  Hey, what's...

Dr. Jeff Chamberlain walks us through traditional anxiety medications and the proper way to utilize them in working through anxiety.





Gerry Barnaby (host)-  Hey, what's up, Barnaby here. Another HelloLife moment, this one directed at anxiety disorders and the medications prescribed to get over the hump that is the disorder. Weighing in on this is Dr. Jeffrey Chamberlain, family medicine specialist. You know Doc, all these questions come from people who have tapped into this Smart Living Network, hellolife.net. The big question in front of us now is about traditional medications, pharmaceuticals, where people are worried about getting addicted. Is that a big problem?



Dr. Jeffrey Chamberlain-  It can be a big problem, some of the medications used for anxiety can be addictive and people have problems with them. Anytime you're using medication you want to make sure you're doing it the right way, in the proper way. I'd say there's a couple ground rules, I'd say I'd lay out that are important: One, is make sure you're seeing a doctor and taking as prescribed. Don't be taking your friends medications...



B- Right..."I think I've got the same thing you've got."

"Oh, this'll help."



C- Yea, exactly. That's not a good idea. Don't, "Well, things are really bad today, so I'm going to take a couple extra," that's not a good idea either. Making sure that you're really working on the root cause, the medications can really help a lot of people get over it or get through it so they can work on things, but the key is, if you're addressing the root cause of the anxiety, to bring it down so, eventually, you won't need the medications at all to keep working on those.

I do have patients that have really bad anxiety problems, but they're so anxious about the medication that they just don't use the medication, but then things are so bad they're not addressing the root cause, so they're just kind of stuck. In that situation, it may be good to be on the medication, us it as prescribed. If you use it as prescribed, typically you're not going to become addicted to it, it's when you start breaking from the prescription that causes the real problems. Use it as prescribed to help you get over the hump and then work on things as quickly as possible, see your counselor, work through your issues, de-stress your life, so you don't need to be on the medications in the long run.



B- So it is then, that there is a possibility that an anxiety disorder is not a lifelong condition?



C- Yea, there's a lot of people that can get things under control enough where they don't need medications, where they're running their life, the anxiety isn't running their life any more.



B- Well that offers great hope, because if you're listening to this segment right now, chances are you or someone you know is suffering from an anxiety disorder. What everybody is after is a more peaceful, productive life. You're going to find answers to these sorts of questions every time you check into hellolife.net.

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