Anxiety

How do you deal with your anxiety? I suffer from anxiety, and oftentimes I feel that I am on the edge (looking for medication). I know that in order to succeed in nursing, I must learn to keep my anxiety under control.

For those of you who suffer from anxiety, how do you "keep it together"? Any strategies or tips for those of us who are not yet able to control our anxiety?

Are you currently on any anti-anxiety medications? I take 20mg Lexapro and it helps but I'm still anxious quite a bit. I easily get overwhelmed at work and need to consciously make myself stop and take a deep breath. Try to catch yourself as soon as you notice your HR increasing and take some deep breaths. Walk away to the bathroom if you have to and just regroup. It's tough in nursing since it's nonstop but you have to realize if you can't take care of yourself you can't take care of your patients.

I suffer from anxiety too but I haven't looked into getting on any meds because I am afraid it will prevent me from working at a nurse...is this not true? I am waiting to get into a nursing program and its killing me so my anxiety is worse than ever. So can I get on meds? Thanks.

See your doctor. My family doctor prescribed me Xanax and it works great for me.

Of course you can take medication! Half of the nurses I work with do, Lol. When I was drug tested I just showed them my prescriptions, no questions asked :)

My employer requires employees to disclose any potentially mind altering prescriptions they take. I take lortab for pain and they haven't said anything about it. See your family physician about it. No one should suffer with something that is easily treated just for their job (assuming said person doesn't take 10 narcs a day )

~ No One Can Make You Feel Inferior Without Your Consent -Eleanor Roosevelt ~

I have depression and anxiety for which I take meds--no issue with work. Unfortunately, my depression/anxiety are worsening and I am beginning to come to the conclusion nursing is something I just may not be able to do much longer. If you feel you are needing something for anxiety you should not only be talking about medication intervention but therapy as well to get to the underlying issues. Good luck to you.

Yes, you can take meds. I have an occassional severe anxiety, and I am on Lexapro (which I have to report to the state board in case they drug test me), but I also take Klonopin PRN, for test days, or other high anxiety days. My advisor told me all this was fine as long as I report it to the board. Other things that may help are any type of adventure sport, or extreme sport. I was running for a long time for marathon training, and this did wonders for my stamina and panic disorder. The idea is that the thrill and effort of achieving the unthinkable achievement exhausts your energy source and boosts your feel good chemicals. Running is so great: it's a natural high and you can do it anywhere. Hope this helps!

Edited Feb 11, 2013 by TheBlackDogWaits

Thank you for this thread and for your answers. I was afraid to start taking antianxiety pills but now I can relax.

Unless I'm missing something or tests have changed Lexapro is an antidepressant/anti anxiety and those do not show up in drug tests. Klonopin would.

If every nurse who needs prescription meds for anxiety or depression were forbidden to practice, there'd be approximately 147 nurses for all of the United States. Don't sweat it......get the treatment you need!

DSkelton711 are you still in the field?

just curious bc I suffer from depression & anxiety, I take meds (don't particularly want to) and its not helping much anymore either. I think I'm done with nursing for a bit. Took me 5 years to get my BSN and 7 years to get burned out. In retrospect, almost wish I'd chosen another profession altogether different.