At the risk of being flamed, I see this statistic as the physicians’ fault in some cases.
Some doctors hand out anti-anxiety meds as panacea instead of trying to find the real problem. You might actually have to spend time with a patient, listen carefully to symptoms, and try to find a cause of their problems, but oftentimes it’s just easier to label the issue “anxiety” and send them on their way with a bottle of benzos.
I have MS, and am very active in the MS community. I can say that at least 50 percent of the women I know who are diagnosed with MS were first labeled as “anxious” or “stressed” and given a med for anxiety. It took perserverance, and “nagging”, sometimes changing doctors, to get on the right path to diagnosis.
Yes, often docs just prescirbe drugs to treat symptoms. Curing stuff is not the goal. Requires lots of work to get to the root cause of something and get rid of it.
Welcome to the SOMA generation. (brave new world)
“Some doctors hand out anti-anxiety meds as panacea instead of trying to find the real problem. You might actually have to spend time with a patient, listen carefully to symptoms, and try to find a cause of their problems, but oftentimes it’s just easier to label the issue “anxiety” and send them on their way with a bottle of benzos.”
My son-in-law is one of these cases. He suffered from debilitating anxiety and depression, and found a doctor to fix him with pills. No working on the cause. He thinks he’s all fixed now. He really enjoys the combination of alcohol with the meds. He has no problem. It’s my daughter who has the problem, according to him. He is content with his new found happiness.
A woman should always reject a psych diagnosis and insist on more tests. My mother came down with ovarian cancer. Depression was a side effect of the cancer. Her doctor told her she was depressed, and treatmant was delayed over two months.
Hyperthyroidism is another illness that is commonly misdiagnosed. Doctors fail to take women seriously, and frankly, I have difficulty trustimg many of them.