Lately there has been a rise in prescriptions of antianxiety medications such as xanax, valium, and ativan. The standard of psychiatric care over the past decade has been med check appointments, consisting of only 5-10 minutes of prescribing medication, and lacking therapeutic treatment. The reasoning behind these appointments is that psychiatrists can make around 200 dollars every 5-10 minutes, as compared to making 200 dollars for a 50 minute talk session. When being diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, your psychiatrist must take into account other endocrine problems such as too high or too low levels of calcium, low blood sugar, and possible heart problems, however patients have been cheated out of treatments that may be beneficial to them due the simplicity of receiving medication. This epidemic involves doctors focusing more on signing prescriptions than analyzing how a particular medication will positively or negatively effect their patients brain, and providing effective treatments, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, that may work better for them without the risk of long term side effects. We are fighting for the requirements of our medical professionals to preform thorough background checks on their patients to assure that medication is a safe option for them before signing prescriptions, taking into consideration how said medications may effect their brain. We want our doctors to prioritize our mental health before their checks.
