Does Anxiety Medication Stop Overthinking?

Is your brain is constantly running a marathon? Do you find yourself trapped in a mental cycle, going over the same conversations or worrying about future possibilities until you are unable to concentrate? This constant mental activity is what we refer to as overthinking or rumination; it is one of the main symptoms of anxiety for many persons. It is tiring, exhausting, and may lead to the feeling of being totally immobilized.

It is quite likely that you have asked yourself: will this ceaseless mental activity be finally stopped if I take anxiety pills? It is a great and easy-to-understand question. However, the answer turns out to be a bit more intricate than just a 'yes' or 'no'.

Thus, it is time to properly examine the way these drugs actually function as well as what they can and cannot do for that fast thinking.

Understanding Overthinking and Anxiety

Overthinking is not simply a matter of repeatedly thinking about a problem, but rather, it is the way one thinks about the problem specifically. It usually ruminates and worries, where ruminating means brooding over past events or feelings while worrying means being preoccupied with future fears.

Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) patients typically overthink in terms of worry that is very difficult to control and persists over a variety of domains such as money, health, work, and family. The problem very often is the rapidity and power of these thoughts, which makes it very hard to focus or even to relax. It is less about a logical discussion of a situation and more about an emotional, non-stop, negative spiral that seems to be impossible to turn off.

How Anxiety Medication Affects the Brain

The medication for anxiety is not intended to make you stop thinking but rather to mute the physical and emotional pain which causes the overthinking that way.

Most of the anti-anxiety drugs, especially the most frequently prescribed ones, are based on the principle of changing the proportion of certain neurotransmitters (chemical messengers) in your brain. The fear and stress areas of your brain are constantly on high alert, and this leads to a state of emotional arousal.

The drug intervenes and supports the calming of the whole system. By lowering the general level of anxiety, it lowers the need for your brain to continue scanning for threats and to get caught up in that repetitive, worry-related thinking.

The Role of SSRIs (The Most Common Choice)

In the United Kingdom, the first-line treatment for chronic anxiety and GAD is mostly an antidepressant medication of a type that is known as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) which are examples of them being Sertraline, Citalopram, and Fluoxetine.

SSRI stands for 'Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor.' Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that is often referred to as the 'feel-good' one, and it is very important for mood, sleep, and emotion.

To help with overthinking, SSRIs will:

• Make more Serotonin Available: SSRIs enable more serotonin to be released into the brain. Gradually, this will help to maintain a stable mood and lessen the emotional part of worries.
• Lessening Emotional Intensity: The drugs don't make you stop thinking, but they can do it to a large extent through your emotional reaction to thoughts. So it would be possible that the thought "I may lose my job" would still occur to you but instead of causing you to panic it would be a minor concern that you would find it easier to disregard.
• Decreasing Rumination: SSRIs do the emotional calming of anxiety so well that they are able to stop the whole cycle of rumination (repetitive negative looping thoughts) that is at the heart of overthinking.

It's worth mentioning that the effectiveness of SSRIs is gradual, and it takes usually two to eight weeks, thus there is a need for patience when beginning this kind of therapy.

Other Medication Types

SSRIs are generally the first step in treatment for anxiety, but other medications can also be used, and they all have different effects on the mind of the anxious person:

• SNRIs (Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors): Their action is directed at both serotonin and norepinephrine. They are one more popular option and act like SSRIs in lessening the emotional power of anxiety.
• Buspirone: This is a medication belonging to the class of anxiolytics (anti-anxiety drugs), but it is not similar to SSRIs in action. It is sometimes prescribed for GAD and is particularly praised and marked for helping to eliminate worry and allow mental clarity without the sleep-inducing effects of other medication groups. It is, however, like SSRIs, a few-week wait for full benefit.
• Beta-Blockers: Sometimes they are prescribed to treat the anxiety-related physical symptoms (for example, heart palpitations or trembling hands). The influence on thoughts is indirect, but by the blocking of the physiological fight-or-flight response, it may occasionally be less hard to be outside the panic-driven overthinking.
• Benzodiazepines (e.g., Diazepam): They are normally given for a short duration only during an acute crisis, as they work really fast and are very effective, but at the same time, come with the risk of dependence. Anxiety is almost instantly relieved, and the anxiety-thoughts and panic cycle can be 'shut down' effectively. Due to the possibility of dependence, they are not often prescribed for long-term management of overthinking.

The Importance of Talking Therapies (CBT)

Talking therapies, especially Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), are one of the most effective treatments for overthinking and are often combined with medication.

CBT is aimed at dismantling the cognitive (thinking) and behavioural (action) patterns that promote overthinking. Although your medication may help to control your anxiety, CBT trains you to utilize the practical tools that can help you to exit the mental loop.

How CBT works with overthinking

• Recognising Triggers: Acquiring the ability to pinpoint the moments when you begin to overthink.
• Doubting Thoughts: Learning to evaluate if your negative thoughts are genuinely true and useful, as opposed to merely accepting them as the truth.
• Worry Time: A typical CBT strategy where you allocate a specific, brief time each day for worrying, thus training your brain to delay unwanted thoughts.

If medicine calms your emotional storms, it will be easier for you to catch on to the CBT methods, and hence, you will be able to practice and establish the healthier thinking patterns more readily.

A Realistic View of What to Expect

Overthinking, if considered as a treatable issue, will be treated with anxiety medication. Here's what you realistically should expect:

• Not a total stop, but a great slowdown: Medication will not render your brain totally silent, though it is very probably going to make your mental activity quieter and, thus, easier to ignore. The relentless and catastrophic nature of thoughts associated with overthinking will often fade.
• Side effects are always there: In the initial weeks, mild side effects such as nausea, headaches, or a feeling of being "spaced out" may occur. However, it is important to persevere and keep in touch with your doctor since these symptoms usually resolve themselves quite soon.
• The power of combination: The best effects for controlling overthinking usually come from a mixture of medication plus psychological therapy; medication gives chemical relief while the therapist teaches practical skills.
• It's a journey: The right medication and the right dose are hard to find. It may take several iterations to determine what will work best with your particular brain chemistry.

Final Words

In the end, anxiety medication is an effective means of eliminating the incapacitating and extremely intense anxiety from your body. It transforms the mental state of the person undergoing treatment by bringing down the stress level to a more tolerable range and creating a much-needed mental space. This space or 'breathing room' enables one to finally leave the loop and work on a more peaceful way of thinking along with the therapist's guidance.

If you are stuck due to overthinking, then consult your doctor about the possible treatments. The most significant part of the journey to get rid of the problem is taking that first step.