It really doesn't take much to be effective if you don't take it regularly. It takes over a week for it to be addictive.
One of the potential side-effects of the medication is after you stop taking it your baseline anxiety will be worse for a while as your body resets. Similar to caffeine and feeling tired.
Depending on how long you're trying to use it you may need to slowly increase the dose to offset increased baseline. This isn't really dangerous using for say.. one week every two months.
It is possible to get psychologically dependent by frequently using it instead of strategies you would learn in therapy. This also happens with things like alcohol.
Using medication to deal with occasional severe anxiety or panic attacks is far safer than substituting it with alcohol.
You're correct. Don't take it lightly. But have it on hand for an emergency, if you're prone to panic or anxiety attacks.
Those are relatively rare, so you shouldn't end up taking it at a frequency where addiction can manifest. But everyone's different; keep open communications with your doctor.
Xanax is a benzodiazepine. You get "high" when taking just barely more than instructed. It's addictive. It's abused frequently. I've abused it before. It feels nice.
I would be surprised if you asked your GP "I have mental breakdowns now and then, I'd like some Xanax", and they just handed it out to you. Then again, I don't live in the US, so maybe the doctors there do just dish it out.
Doesn’t usually cause addiction if used in emergencies only and quite a few people in tech do.
I do feel more stressed 12-24 hours after taking benzos though. This leads some people to take a higher dose and you can see where that leads.
But no, no addiction in me or anyone I know using it “as needed”.
Some doctors prescribe it daily for a long period of time, which is reckless if other drugs are available for the same problem, like sertraline for anxiety. But then, some doctors prescribe oxy for pain when ibuprofen will do. Malicious stuff. All the addiction warnings are to steer people away from these drugs in these scenarios.
Benzos 3x a day for a month will be tough to shake. Benzos 3x a month to 3x a year — hard to imagine problems with that.
I think it's just a default warning; any drug can me. I am taking Sertraline for anxiety and even while I went through it with my psychiatrist about if it can be addictive (his statement was - no, not really - and for me that was true, I was able to stop taking it without any side effects), there's still that risk.
As with any medical thing, better consult it with a specialist anyway.
> A safe taper typically takes much longer than a week-long detox or 28-day stay in rehab — an average of six to 12 months, experts say.
This is not to downplay SSRI tapers, which can be plenty awful if you are on them for a long time, but quitting benzos too abruptly can give you seizures. You have to be very careful to taper them safely.
Doing a search online seems to indicate that Xanax can be addictive?
https://www.drugs.com/xanax.html
Doesn't seem to be the kind of thing to take lightly?