Should I take the medication i've been prescribed

[Anna19981]

I've been prescribed sertraline, an antidepressant for social anxiety. However i'm still waiting to have access to therapy and i've been told by people that I shouldn't take the medication without being in therapy and that the doctor is wrong for giving it to me.

is it true that I should wait until i'm seeing a therapist or should I trust y doctor and start the medication?

[Kirk]

I would trust your physician.

[Dahila]

I would not. Kirk with all due respect , Patient cured , client lost. Anna try the therapy first .
No AD is working on me though. Side effects are just too much for a lot of people. Small percentage of people feel relieve being on AD but not everyone

[salvator here]

Yeah it really is a personal choice. NO AD meds work for me either but I can not get meds that would actually help me because the war on drugs has left doctors here with their hands tied. Its getting pretty darn difficult to get anything narcotic anymore and all patients are seen as drug seekers at the mere mention of them...Sad to say. Good luck with therapy. social anxiety also requires acceptance and I don't know if there is even a quick fox for it, it requires and all inclusive approach. Sorry just lacking the right words here.

[salvator here]

I keep coming back to this because I had a few questions and wanted to be a bit more clear.

How did your doctor diagnose you with social anxiety and decide sertraline was the answer? Did you tell him yourself - you thought you suffer from this? Yes, I would make sure you get into therapy because social anxiety is more complex that say.. GAD, and you would want to avoid a self diagnosis. SA can be a beast and is all encompassing and really requires lifestyle changes (sometimes) along with medication. Maybe your doctor figured your depression was causing your social anxiety and why you were prescribed Zoloft - we shouldn't assume anything - that's trusting a lot and I need more than a maybe before altering neurotransmitters. Just to be clear, I'm not anti med and I wish you luck going forward to better understanding and treating this disorder. Just because those meds didn't help me doesn't mean that would be the same in your case.

feel free to keep us posted on your results.