Does Anxiety Go Away With Medication?

When you suffer an anxiety disorder the mental and physical symptoms that you feel on a day to day basis can feel overwhelming and scary. Therefore it isn’t surprising that most people with anxiety are impatient and desperate to get rid of their problem as quickly as possible. But does anxiety go away with medication or do the anti-anxiety drugs not really resolve the problem at all. Here is everything you need to know about anxiety and why medication is only ever going to be part of the answer to your problem.

This post may contain affiliate links which means that we get a commission if you choose to make a purchase through the link. This is at no cost to you. Please read our disclosure page for more information.

The Types of Anxiety Disorders and Why They Exist

To answer the question “does anxiety go away with medication?” you first have to understand why you may have a problem in the first place. Anxiety is an essential part of our survival mechanism. Its sole purpose is to keep us safe from potential threats and dangers.

When we are born we tend to have two fears which are fear of falling and of loud noises. The rest of our anxieties or fears tend to be learned as we grow up. Typically we find that most anxieties start between the ages of around 3-7 years old.

Something happens to upset us, scare us or embarrass us and from that point on a part of our mind tries to protect us from a similar thing happening again.

There are a number of different types of anxiety disorders including:

Fears and Phobias
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Panic Disorder/Panic Attacks

Social Anxiety Disorder
OCD
PTSD

Although the reasons for each of these occurring may be different in each individual the physical symptoms of the anxiety may be very similar. They serve as a warning sign to help us get away from similar situations.

Physical Symptoms of Anxiety

The physical symptoms of anxiety can be distressing which is why people with anxiety disorder are usually desperate for a solution to their problem. They usually choose to use anti-anxiety medication to try and stop the panic attacks or overwhelming fear or sense of dread. There are a huge number of anxiety symptoms that people may experience and these can include:

Fast heart rate.
An overwhelming fear that something bad is going to happen.
Dizziness.

Sweating.
Nausea.
Panic Attacks.

Worry.
Trembling.

Anxiety medication is of course given to try and alleviate these problems the only problem is that anxiety can usually only be partially controlled by drugs such as benzodiazepines or anti-depressants.

Does Anxiety Go Away if You Ignore It?

Generalized anxiety disorder as well as the other forms of anxiety are there for a reason. They are a warning to tell us that something isn’t right and to get away from danger. Some of the reasons for these symptoms of anxiety are because of genuine threats, some are down to your lifestyle and some will be learned behaviours from past situations. In many cases, all three of these mix together to create the anxiety disorder.

Trying to ignore the anxiety and hoping that it will go away by doing absolutely nothing is a naive approach that is rarely going to help unless you have a very unusual or specific trigger that only happens very rarely. For most people, the anxiety will either be a constant or will come and go depending on the triggers for it.

Physical Symptoms of Anxiety Won’t Go Away

When someone starts to experience physical symptoms of anxiety that won’t go away their first port of call is usually their doctor’s clinic to get some anti-anxiety medication. The hope is that the anxiety medication will act as a cure-all and treat anxiety by removing all the horrible symptoms so that the person taking the medication feels normal again.

Now whilst anxiety medication can certainly take the edge off anxiety or reduce the symptoms it is unlikely to completely cure the anxiety disorder. This is because there are usually other factors at play in a person’s life that are causing the anxiety to trigger that the medication can’t stop.

As an example, a health professional doesn’t usually take a comprehensive assessment for each client that walks in through their door. So if a person is working too hard, taking drugs or living with an abusive partner this problem is often overlooked or not mentioned. The person attending the appointment is given medication for anxiety which can help to an extent but if they continue to have a problematic lifestyle the anxiety will still trigger.

To resolve the problem a holistic view should be used to treat the anxiety disorder. This may need to be combined with medication and or therapy to get a better result and alleviate the physical and mental symptoms of anxiety.

Can Anxiety Be Cured?

The reality is that most anxiety disorders can be substantially reduced and well managed if the right treatments and lifestyle changes are made. In some cases, anxiety can be completely removed with therapy to address the root cause of the problems.

Does anxiety go away with medication alone? Well usually not. The key to resolving anxiety disorders is to understand more about what your triggers are and then to work on the elements causing the problem. Without looking at your risk factors and life you are only really creating short term reductions rather than longer-term solutions.

In order to help our clients address the real reasons for their problem, we give them anxiety tracker worksheets to use to help them to more clearly identify what might be problematic in their life. By filling in this sheet our clients are able to get a clearer picture of their mental health and causes of stress. You can purchase your own set in our online store.

Get The PDF

How Do You Treat Anxiety?

Does anxiety go away with medication? Well no it probably won’t so how do you treat your anxiety disorder without relying on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or benzodiazepines alone?

Well, we like to take an approach that involves attacking the anxiety from a number of different viewpoints. Our aim is to give our clients a better understanding of why their anxiety is there and give them steps to reduce the problem naturally where possible.

We don’t get involved in anxiety medication because that is something only a doctor can really advise on. Mental health conditions may need medical interventions at first in order to calm and stabilize the problem. Most of our anxiety clients begin their programs with us which taking anti-anxiety drugs and they don’t impact the effectiveness of our treatment. If our clients feel substantially better because of our program then they can always ask their doctor to alter or stop their prescription with medical supervision.

So what do we look at as part of our program?

Firstly we take a comprehensive assessment from our client that looks at their life and any day to day stress. This helps us to see the bigger picture and address immediate elements that may be causing a problem.
Secondly, we teach stress reduction and relaxation techniques to help naturally dampen any anxiety.
Finally, we look to see if we can find the root cause of any anxiety so that we can help our clients to see things from a different perspective and rationalise their problems. This can change the way the mind thinks.

Combining all three of these elements tends to be incredibly helpful and improves our client’s wellness.

Living An Anxiety-Free Life

Living a life free from an anxiety disorder is possible but in order to control the problem lifestyle elements need to be addressed as medication for anxiety is only partial help.

Anxiety symptoms often have a reason for being there so a common-sense approach is to appraise your life and see what is working and what isn’t. Managing stress is one of the biggest treatments there is for anxiety. Too much stress can have a detrimental impact on anxiety disorders and create serious mental health issues if left unchecked.

Learning to take time out for relaxation and self-care is also hugely important and an often neglected area for treating anxiety. Managing your time and improving your wellness through relaxation and stress-relieving activities can significantly improve your mood and reduce anxiety side effects.

A really simple solution for this is using a self-hypnosis download to help switch the mind off. Our self-hypnosis for relaxation and stress reduction audio is great for helping you to take time out and switching off your brain.

Shop Online

Finally, therapy to get to the root cause of your problem is a great anti-anxiety solution. Understanding and rationalising why you have a problem can alter the way you think. It can often take the fear factor away and reduce or even stop generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety and fears and phobias.

Just note that not all therapies are equal when it comes to resolving root causes. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for example may be great at helping you change your lifestyle or assisting you with relaxation techniques but it does not focus on the root of a problem. Instead, you should try hypnosis or psychotherapy as a solution for this part of the problem.

How to Get Anxiety Under Control Without Medication

So what anti-anxiety steps can you take other than therapy to help calm anxiety disorders and assist your mental health? Well here are some of our top tips and strategies to lessen anxiety symptoms.

Focus on Getting Better Sleep

Does anxiety go away with medication? Well no it is unlikely but improving some key parts of your life can naturally make a difference such as getting a better night’s sleep. An average adult needs between 7 and 9 hours sleep a night. If you are not getting this then you may be feeling more anxious, moody or feeling irritable.

A good nights sleep is the perfect prescription for anxiety disorders because it helps reduce the symptoms and enables you to think more rationally. If you are having problems switching your mind off at bedtime then why not try our self-hypnosis for sleep audio.

Shop Online

Exercise and Anxiety Management

All forms of exercise can be useful for burning up excess adrenaline and reducing anxiety symptoms. Exercise is the perfect natural solution for good physical and mental health.

Don’t worry if you aren’t capable of running miles even walking at pace can be a helpful way to control an anxious brain.

Manage Stress

We have already talked about the importance of stress management and how it can assist in reducing chronic anxiety but it is always important to stress how essential this is.

Write down what may be causing stress in your life and then take steps to alter the areas where you can start making a difference in the short term. Start implementing these straight away and then assess longer-term solutions for bigger stressors.

As an example short term anti-anxiety solutions may be stopping overtime, organizing your life to make it easier, turning down commitments or taking a holiday. Longer-term stress reduction activities may involve changing your job, hiring help, leaving your partner or learning mindfulness.

Deep Breathing To Reduce Anxiety

Learning to slow down your breathing can have a positive impact on your anxiety. There are plenty of breathing exercises out there on the internet that can be used to treat anxiety or panic disorder for free.

There are also some new amazing gadgets out there that have been designed to help manage and control your breathing including the Flō Stress Relief Mindful Breathing Necklace. When you exhale through this necklace it helps to elongate your outflow breath to between 9 and 14 seconds which helps to calm your mind and body.

Mindfulness

Using mindfulness techniques to slow down the mind and stay in the present is now an acceptable treatment for both anxiety and depression.

Mindfulness can be learned through therapy sessions or via self-help methods. The easiest way to use mindfulness self-help methods is either by reading a book on the topic such as Practicing Mindfulness by Matthew Sockolov or by using mindfulness cards.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

An average person with anxiety disorders is of course impatient for results and desperate to get rid of the feelings of anxiety. As they begin to worry and panic when their symptoms don’t reduce quickly they actually heighten their anxiety rather than lowering it. This becomes a vicious circle where the anxious feelings increase as the person tries to fight against them.

Acceptance of anxiety has the opposite effect. It causes you to stop the fear and worrying escalating which in turn starts to reduce your anxiety. Acceptance and commitment therapy is a way of getting yourself out of the worry trap.

Alcohol Reduction And Anxiety

Another great anti-anxiety strategy is to cut back on alcohol consumption. Too much alcohol only contributes to anxiety and it isn’t great for your wellness and general health either. You can find out more about alcohol and anxiety attacks in our article on the topic.

To cut back on alcohol consumption sign up for our alcohol reduction cheat sheet to get more ideas on how to drink less.

Drink Less Download

Self-Care to Lower Anxiety

Our 5-minute self-care tips and strategies are helpful because they teach you how to start looking after your needs even when you have very little time.

Self-care isn’t selfish but an important natural treatment for anxiety because it enables you to start looking after your needs instead of just focusing on others. Start taking time out for yourself to relax, unwind and be happy and it will pay dividends.

Social Media Detox for Anxiety Reduction

Social media can be a great tool at times but it can also heighten anxiety if used incorrectly. If you are spending good portions of your day on social media then it can take over your life and cause problems.

We know that our clients look at social media and worry about no living up to others even though their lives are filtered. They worry about the trolls or drama that can occur on social media sites that are not well monitored. Plus being online all the time impacts their sleep which in turn heightens their anxiety.

Do a social media detox and start significantly reducing your time online to help lower your anxiety levels. Use a mobile phone cell phone jail if you are having problems resisting temptation.

Slow Down to Reduce Anxiety

Does anxiety go away with medication? Well as we have discussed no it won’t completely remove it but our other anxiety reduction tips and strategies can make a big difference using natural methods that don’t have any side effects.

Our final tip is simply to slow down. Our pace of life seems to get faster and faster every day and email and mobile phones keep us switched on all the time. Learn to slow things down and take life at a slower pace. Whilst you can’t avoid all your stressors you can significantly lessen them and do more things to relax and unwind. Why not try our anxiety reduction tips and strategies and see.