It can be pretty scary when you learn how some of the drugs out there actually work. Take lorazepam for example - it is prescribed for extreme, excessive anxiety and seizures, and works by slowing down the central nervous system. Highly addictive, and, aside from that, can leave you feeling pretty out of it. Plus? It doesn't always work. That's even worse - when you can feel these slight changes in your body because this drug (which kicks in pretty much instantaneously), but it still doesn't solve your problem. In that case, you're actually worse off than before.
So many drugs work by altering your brain chemistry, and that's pretty damned serious in my mind. It's very difficult to find the right drug and dose for someone, and they take their sweet ol' time kicking in.
I had a roommate, a friend, who wasn't happy with how things were going and was convinced he needed medication. So, he went to his doctor and got a prescription for effexor and trotted off happily. Notice how I said had? He became absolutely impossible to be around. He was much moodier and obnoxious, and drove away everyone near him, including the bloody stubborn yours truly. All he was concerned about is that he got what he wanted, and he wanted effexor (a drug that you typically don't want to turn to until you've tried gentler things, if drugs are truly what you need, and they haven't worked for you) because it is known to have fewer sexual side effects. I know a lot of people that are on or have been on antidepressants/anti anxiety drugs (often, the same drugs work for both), and I know some of them had to stop because the drugs actually made things a lot worse.
Sure, it helps change things so the stress isn't the same as before. Often, though, it changes everything. There are side effects such as dry mouth, nausea, sexual side effects, headaches - and it just keeps going from there. Drugs can also numb out the happy emotions as well as the bad, so nothing is felt at all. It's not cool.
Another thing that most people don't do before jumping to their doctor to try medications (and, sadly, that most doctors don't have the people do) is get blood work done. Why blood work? There are a lot of things that can go wrong in one's body that can present an array of symptoms, and it definitely helps to check to make sure all the basic stuff is in proper order before jumping to conclusions. For example, if the thyroid isn't functioning as it should, it can affect mood and energy levels.
It really bothers me how many people will go see a doctor because they've been stressed out for a bit and the doctor just tosses them pills, particularly when they jump straight to heavier stuff. I am not directing this at anyone here. What I am saying is that I've seen too much of it. A good doctor will talk to you about your symptoms and send you for blood work first, as well as likely recommending counselling as a possibility first. It's simply the responsible thing to do.
I don't mean to get all ranty and go overboard, it's just something that's a serious topic, and something that has affected me quite a bit personally.
