lithium

[lazar37]

Does anyone take lithium for anxiety? My psychiatrist prescibed me lithium and I'm not sure if this makes sense for anxiety. Any ideas.

[Robbed]

Lithium is for bipolar disorder. NOT anxiety. At the very least, ask your psychiatrist why he/she prescribed such a hard-core medication to you. And if he says you are bipolar, get a second opinion at the very least.

[Robbed]

I should also note that I have seen plain old depression/anxiety misdiagnosed on SEVERAL occasions as bipolar disorder. So this would appear to be pretty common. For this reason (and others), I REALLY believe that psychiatric treatment is the WORST way to go when dealing with problems such as depression and anxiety. First of all, there is the REAL danger of being misdiagnosed. But most importantly, psychiatrists are just SO dark. Because they most often deal with problems like bipolar disorder, psychosis, and schizophrenia, the words 'cure' and 'complete recovery' are just not a part of their vocabulary. And the belief that you CAN recover fully is essential with anxiety disorder. Furthermore, whether you typically worry that you have a physical problem like a heart attack OR a mental one that is inescapable, a VERY basic component of an anxiety disorder is a fear that there is something horribly wrong with you. Psychiatrists only tend to fan the flames by 'confirming' your VERY worst and darkest fears. Anxiety sufferers need something quite different. Specifically, they need reassurance that recovery is completely possible. AND they need to learn to correct the root cause of their anxiety. Psychiatrists just can't provide this.