Free Clinics and Antianxiety Meds

[Dr Steve]

Hi Dr. Steve... I have a quick question for you...

I was laid off from my job 2 months ago and before that I was planning on looking into anti-anxiety meds for myself through my healthcare provider, but now that I no longer have health care, I'm wondering if free clinics handle anti-anxiety meds at all? My job hunt has only increased my anxiety and I am finding it difficult to even leave my house lately, let alone look for a job and go on interviews. A really good friend of mine with very similar symptoms as me has been taking Klonapin for a while now and swears that it's helped him dramatically. I'm very interested in trying it myself, but wouldn't be able to afford to see a therapist or a psychiatrist at this point. Any info you can give me on free clinics and how they handle this, or whether they do or not, would be great! Thanks.



Hey, thanks for being my "first" on rf.net!

There are free clinics and then again there are free clinics. Try one and see. 70% of psychiatry is practiced in primary care offices, and 90% of that consists of anxiety or depression. If you can't find one that will treat you, you may want to find a free mental health clinic in your area (we have two, and I live in near-rural TN, so I'm sure you have at least one!)...they would be more likely to feel comfortable treating anxiety.

Having said all that, I must say that although Klonopin works really well for the symptoms of anxiety, it IS habit forming and isn't the best medication for long term use. Believe it or not, the SSRI-type antidepressants (like Paxil or Zoloft) are as effective (if not more so) and are non-habit forming. They take a couple of weeks to kick in, though. There are adverse effects; make sure you check out this stuff with your own health care provider (and good luck in your search!)

your friend,


Steve

[ahhdurr]

Pills will get you out the door for an interview but if you're ever going to have long term quality of life... breathe.

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/ART00521

Dr. Steve has mentioned this but didn't in the post so I figured I'd go ahead.

[Dr Steve]

YES!

Oh, there are all kinds of non-drug ways to deal with anxiety, and I'm glad you brought that up...I concentrated on the free clinic aspect rather than the anxiety itself in my response. Let me fix that right now. :-)

For acute anxiety attacks, you can often try "square breathing". Earl talked about this on the air (and well, kind of missed the point). Here's the correct way to do this:

1) Inhale for 4 beats (doesn't matter how long the beats are...make them as long as you can stand them. The beats just need to be equal through this whole procedure)

2) HOLD YOUR BREATH for 4 beats

3) Exhale for 4 beats

4) HOLD YOUR BREATH for 4 beats


when you do this, you cannot hyperventilate. Hyperventilation (breathing faster than is required given your current oxygen situation) causes a decrease in carbon dioxide in the blood stream. this causes physical symptoms like tingling of the hands, numbness around the mouth, and worsening anxiety. Square breathing, unlike breathing into a bag, can be done anywhere without anyone knowing you're doing anything. It will often break the cycle of anxiety-->hyperventilation-->symptoms--->more anxiety within a minute.

I'm big on Yoga for long term management of anxiety; it gives you a huge stress relief during the 30-60 minutes and that's a good thing. I like Steve Ross on the Oxygen Network. It's on at 6am, but just DVR it and do it later. He plays good music and he's funny and you don't have to do yoga WELL to get the results you want from it. It is a huge low impact aerobic exercize when done properly, too.

There are a lot of other non-drug treatments for anxiety. I'd be interested in what others have found useful.

--Steve

I should probably just start an anxiety thread...

[jauble]

mmmm xanax

[IMSlacker]

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9qKPYUysBOM&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9qKPYUysBOM&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

[opie's twisted balls]

better living through chemistry.....I'm a blithering douche bag without celexa

[extracheese]

Effexor turns off anxiety like a light switch.

[midwestjeff]

Effexor turns off anxiety like a light switch.

So does growing a pair.