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Question: For years a friend of mine had anxiety issues. It gradually got worse and worse to the point where she had a hard time driving (ex. she couldn't make left turns and would start to freak out if she had to go to a stop light). Recently she started taking anti-anxiety medication and she is doing great, better than she's been in years, but is she stuck taking them forever? Will she ever be able to be independent of the medication or is she now addicted to it?
Answer: There is a difference between reliance and addiction. My wife relies heavily on her glasses, without them she could not see well enough to drive or distinguish faces across a room. My wife is not addicted to her glasses.
Many people who are reliant on any external source of aide or support can become psychologically dependent on it. They may feel that without Mom to pack their lunch for them, or the walker they use to get to the car, they will simply not be able to function. In some cases this is detrimental to a person's development and independence, we often speak of learned helplessness when a person simply gives up without the external support they are used to. In most cases, however, as long as a person remembers that even without support they can function, it might be really uncomfortable or inconvenient but they will get by, then it is not a problem.
Something becomes an addiction when the relationship with a substance, behavior, person, becomes a priority out of balance with all other priorities. If a friend would risk your relationship by lying to you to protect their relationship with drugs, gambling, sex, etc.. then they may have an addiction or a Dependence Problem.
Often I deal with parents who are afraid to allow their children to use medication for ADHD, Depression, Anxiety, etc... They worry that the child will use this as a crutch and will not push themselves through tough times instead relying on the medication. The fear is legitimate if the medication is presented as an answer instead of as part of a process of healing and coping.
When a person has anxiety their brain has stopped perceiving the world as it actually is and chemical signals are being sent around the brain telling it that there is grave danger when really there is little or none. The brain can be re-calibrated without medication using a number of different therapies, from relaxation techniques to exposure therapy which helps to react appropriately to stimuli. This can be a long and really uncomfortable process particularly without medication.
There are two ways medications are used to treat anxiety. The more healthy way is using medications like SSRI's which build up slowly in the system and help the brain to see the world as it is. The more immediate way is to use medications when an anxiety or panic attack flares up. These PRN (as needed) medications hold a high risk of addiction and doctor's like to avoid them if possible because they reinforce a negative notion that when I have a problem I pop a pill and I feel better. These are medications that tend to get abused and are very dangerous when combined with alcohol or other drugs.
If your friend is working with a doctor and a therapist there is a very good chance she will be able to go off the medication some day. If she is not doing any therapy she may always be dependent on medication but again that will not be an addiction unless she begins to put her reliance on the medication ahead of other things. For example if she risks driving under the influence because she cannot bare the idea of driving without a prn anxiety medication even though she has been drinking.
Ultimately medications are a tool to help us live as if we did not have the impairment which triggered their use. So long as the medication is being used as prescribed by a doctor and is leading to more healthy and typical functioning than life without it then support your friend and worry instead about whose turn it is to drive.
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