The process of choosing a medication for your anxiety and depression can be lengthy and often come with a long list of potential side effects. Many patients have to go through multiple medications to find one that works. When you have determined that the best option is medication to manage anxiety or depression, there are many factors to consider. With multiple antidepressants and anxiety reducers on the market, Ogden Psychological Services wants to help patients understand which medication will be best for them.

Combining mental health medication with proper therapy can help you cope with new changes in life, anxiety triggers, and other situations. Ogden Psychological Services wants to help give you the tools to better handle all life can throw at you. Seeking treatment of any form is not a sign of weakness. 

SSRIs Or SNRIs

When you are researching medications, you will likely see these two acronyms referring to medication to manage anxiety. SSRI stands for Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. SNRI stands for serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors. These are both the first line of treatment for anxiety disorders. Common SSRI brands include Celexa, Lexapro, and Zoloft. Common SNRI brands are Pristiq, Cymbalta, and Effexor XR.

SSRIs only affect serotonin in your body, while SNRIs adjust the serotonin and norepinephrine levels. If you are experiencing a mix of anxiety and depression symptoms a doctor may recommend an SSRI to help boost your serotonin levels. Increasing your serotonin and norepinephrine levels helps your body to be more aware and keep your mood up. Norepinephrine also helps improve blood pressure and sleep schedule which can affect depression symptoms. 

Choosing between an SSRI or SNRI can seem tricky, but trying multiple medications may be the best option. SSRIs take a little while to enter your system and start to affect your hormone levels, so give it a few months before you completely abandon the medication to manage anxiety or depression. A doctor or therapist can help you learn more about the medication and how it makes you feel.

Tips For Choosing Medication To Manage Anxiety

Because there are a variety of anxiety disorders, there are different medications that can treat different triggers or symptoms. For those with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Lexapro is a medication with fewer reported side effects than an SSRI. Social Anxiety Disorder is usually treated with Zoloft because it is safer for those with heart problems or pregnant women. 

For a disorder like OCD, there are medications including Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft that will help limit triggers in the brain. SSRIs are now more recommended because they have fewer unfavorable side effects, but they can also make patients gain weight. 

Tips For Depression Medication

Each medication for depression affects neurotransmitters in slightly different ways. Mani antidepressants help aid communication between brain cells which means that some may even make your symptoms worse, rather than better. Popular depression medications are Celexa, Effexor XR, Prozac, and Fetzima. 

Treating depression with medication often means you will need to meet with your healthcare provider often for the next few months. Because not all medication to manage anxiety and depression works for everyone, your doctor will want to monitor if your symptoms worsen, or if your neurotransmitters are reacting to the medicine. Depression medications are often SNRIs which can have side effects like increased thoughts of suicide. If you start to feel suicidal thoughts, call the Suicide Hotline at 988. 

Common Side Effects To Watch For

All medications come with a list of potential side effects that can be detrimental to your mental and physical health. Some common side effects that occur from these medications are:

• Feeling agitated or anxious
• Indigestion
• Nausea
• Diarrhea 
• Dizziness
• Insomnia
• Weight Gain
• Suicidal thoughts
• Headaches
• Dry mouth
• Low Libido
• Blurred vision
• Fatigue
• Hallucinations
• Panic attacks

There are more side effects that are possible from medication combined with a chemical imbalance in the brain you are already experiencing. If your side effects lead you to severe sickness or suicidal thoughts, contact your doctor ASAP. 

Therapy And Medication With Ogden Psychological Services

Seeking medication for your mental illness can also be more helpful when combined with psychotherapy. Our therapists at Ogden Psychological Services treat a variety of mental health issues and help you work to develop coping skills, and new thoughts, and have a safe place to learn and vent. Therapy can be helpful in understanding your medication side effects, why your body experiences panic attacks or depression, and more.

Our therapists are board certified and have experience dealing with a variety of patients. We help you to determine your goals and reach them with action steps. The act of therapy itself can be a daunting task, but we want you to know that seeking help is not a sign of weakness. Therapy can improve your life in just a few sessions and help you see a brighter side of life. Contact our office to schedule an appointment today!

The stigma around mental health may have begun to decline, but the male mental health stigma continues to be an issue and limits the number of males who seek effective treatment. Males often get looked down on for having extreme emotions or being depressed and worry about being seen by family and friends as weak. Ogden Psychological Services wants to help patients of all ages and genders with various issues and help educate all about the stigma surrounding mental health. Talking about mental health improves the quality of life in many people and shows that seeking help is a positive thing. 

Men May Not Realize They Have A Mental Health Issue

Because mental health isn’t talked about openly among men, males may not even know they are experiencing a mental health issue. Mental health should be taken just as seriously as physical health, whether male or female, and can be improved by a medical professional. This contributes greatly to the male mental health stigma. 

Males often don’t take physical health as seriously as they should because of the stigma around being weak. Physical ailments and diseases should be handled with seriousness and treated by a professional with medication and one-on-one treatment. The same goes for mental health. 

Toxic Masculinity And Pushing Through Emotions

Toxic masculinity is a large contributor to the male mental health stigma. This refers to when others or even the individual themselves, shame men for having emotions or taking time for themselves. Self-care, taking time off work, or seeking help in men is often looked down upon and can seem weak or small. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness but rather a strength. Taking care of yourself is never the wrong investment because helping yourself also helps improve your relationships with those around you. 

Many males think the best thing to do is look forward and push through their emotions. While keeping your mind on the future can be a good thing, ignoring complex emotions can become a lot to deal with on your own. Keeping emotions in can lead to isolation and is a large part of the male mental health stigma. 

Not Seeking Treatment

Seeking treatment or therapy for mental struggles is a problem for males and females alike. Many people carry out daily tasks and social engagements while having an internal mental battle. Therapy, meditation, medication, and support groups are all available resources that should be taken advantage of.

Many males who struggle with complex emotions turn to dopamine enhancers to help them ignore what they are feeling. These can include drugs, alcohol, adrenaline, sexual activities, or other behaviors that could soon become unhealthy addictions. “Talking it out” may not seem like a solution for men which can cause them to only seek treatment when their mental health problems are severe. 

Educating Others About Mental Health

Over the years, more people are talking about mental health and mental health services more openly. Educating all people on what mental health can look like and what therapy is available can help those who may feel misunderstood and hesitant about therapy. 

If you know a loved one who is struggling with the mental health stigma, sharing your experiences can help them to see that seeking help has worked for someone close to them. Proper education on what symptoms accompany mental health and how it affects your body can help us all to erase the male mental health stigma and all stigmas in general. It is also important to share correct facts about mental health and help those around you recognize signs of severe mental health, especially depression or suicidal thoughts. 

Work With Ogden Psychological Services

Our office works with patients of many different ages, genders, and mental health problems. We treat various issues that can interrupt your daily life when not handled correctly. Fighting the male mental health stigma is important to all of our professionals. 

We do our best to make you feel at ease in our office and work to accomplish your goals. Because each patient is unique, we create individual plans and conduct individual testing to best help you and your symptoms. Seeking help can improve multiple areas of your life and help you have more healthy relationships. If you are wanting to learn more about what we offer and how we treat our patients, contact us today. 

Those who experienced childhood trauma of any kind can experience problems into adulthood. Whether there has been emotional or physical abuse, those who experience childhood abuse often find ways to cope with the neglect or abuse and it can make dealing with situations as an adult more difficult. If you have experienced childhood trauma, speaking with a mental health professional and visiting a therapist often can help you work through your past and put you on a better path for the future. Ogden Psychological Services wants to help adults and children alike overcome mental challenges. 

What Is Trauma?

Childhood trauma is more often than not classified as abuse and neglect. This is the most common type of trauma, but other experiences can cause issues into adulthood. Other traumatic events that can affect mental health and physical health are:

• Natural disasters
• School violence
• Intimate partner violence
• Commercial sexual exploitation
• Accidents or life-threatening illness
• War experiences
• Military family stressors
• Sudden loss of a loved one

Stability, Guilt, And Shame

Common problems that those with childhood trauma experience are finding stability, guilt, and shame. These usually result from being made to feel less than or guilty as a child that carries into adulthood. This can be a struggle they have for the rest of their life and hard to break through.

Shame can often come from themselves even after they have left the toxic childhood situation because of the trauma. Trauma disrupts the stability and the child’s sense of safety, which can fracture their reality and cause these thoughts of shamefulness can carry into adulthood, relationships, jobs, and more. 

Attachment Issues

Because of the lack of attention during childhood, these adults often have unhealthy attachment styles. Some of these attachments can include

• Dismissive-Avoidant Attachment
• Fearful-Avoidant Attachment
• Anxious-Preoccupied Attachment

These styles may lead to fear during intimate relationships, avoidant attachment to family or children, and require ongoing validation. These attachment styles often come with a difficulty expressing emotions in a healthy way which can cause communication issues as well. 

Mental Health

Complex childhood trauma affects the whole body and mind. It usually presses its way forward whether patients want it to or not. Abuse or neglect can lead to mental health issues such as personality disorder, depression, anxiety, and other mental health diagnoses. 

Those young children that have experienced trauma may start to show signs of mental health issues around elementary school age. This can come in the form of isolation, not connecting with peers, behavioral changes, loss of previous skills, academic difficulties or older children may act riskier. These behaviors can continue into adulthood or cause them to lose out on opportunities such as graduating high school, making friends, or enjoying hobbies that can help enrich the lives of adults. 

Loss Of Childhood Memories

A sign of childhood trauma is the inability to recall childhood memories. Those who have high ACEs scores had significant gaps in childhood memories. While the distant past may seem fuzzy to some, some children with extreme abusive pasts and continued abuse could develop multiple personality disorders, more commonly known as Dissociative Identity Disorder which has major amnesia when alternating between different personalities. 

Chronic Illness

Traumatic experiences can manifest themselves in our bodies as chronic illnesses and other health problems. Those children who may have experienced sexual exploitation had a higher risk of cancer diagnosis and those who experienced multiple kinds of trauma were found to have other heart, liver, autoimmune diseases, and chronic headaches. 

Healing With The Help Of Therapy

For those who experience health problems because of childhood trauma, medication may not be enough. Therapy combined with medication can help get adults who experienced trauma, back on track. Adults who are not sure if they have experienced trauma can still benefit from talking about it in therapy. 

Ogden Psychological Services offers trauma therapy for patients who have experienced any kind of trauma. We help to create individualized plans for each patient and work to achieve your goals. Our therapists use many techniques and apply the best methods to help your specific situation. If you feel our office and therapy practices could be right for you, contact us today to set up an appointment.