My Schizoaffective Anxiety Treatment Isn't Working Anymore

My anxiety treatment is not working anymore. In the summer, I wrote about how I was decreasing my antidepressant to lessen my schizoaffective anxiety. That time, it worked (Taking an Active Role in My Psychiatric Medication Changes). But earlier this month when I tried to do the same thing for the same reasons, it didn’t work. I’m not sure why it didn’t help, but I have some ideas.

Is My Anxiety Treatment Not Working Because of the Season?

Decreasing an antidepressant in the summer is different than decreasing it in the winter or early spring. There’s a difference between how you would treat anxious depression and anxious mania. I was probably experiencing anxious mania in the summer but anxious depression is more typical for me at the beginning of March (What Is Seasonal Affective Disorder, Seasonal Depression?).

It could also just be that, as I’m writing this, I’m at the correct dosage of my antidepressant. That could change, but for now, I’m probably at the right amount.

Of course, I’m disheartened that this anxiety treatment is not working. I prayed that lowering my antidepressant would improve my anxiety. And now that I’m on the dosage I was taking before I started the medication change, I’m back to square one.

Medication Changes Aren't Math Equations

But I’ve noticed that medication changes aren’t like a math equation. Just because I’m back to the old dosage doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll feel exactly like I did before the medication change. It could be as simple as this: since I felt more anxious on the lower dosage, now that I’m back up on the higher dosage, I’ll appreciate it more.

Let me illustrate what I mean with a story I heard as a little kid. A man complained about the sound of his roof dripping. Friends advised him to get a goat. The goat made a lot of noise and he wouldn’t notice the dripping roof. Then he was advised to get a pig. The pig and the goat together made a lot more noise. More farm animals followed, making his home a catastrophe. So he got rid of all the farm animals. The roof dripping didn’t seem as bad when compared to the zoo he had harbored. I like to think he finally got that roof fixed.

Trying Strategies When You Anxiety Treatment Isn't Working

What I’m trying to say is this: maybe this level of schizoaffective anxiety won’t seem as bad when compared to when I was on a lower dosage of the antidepressant, and it was much worse. That definitely doesn’t change my disappointment with the medication change not working. But I have other support such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and I’m hopeful that will help.

Schizoaffective anxiety can make life tough. It’s the worst symptom of my schizoaffective disorder. But, by working with my doctor and working with CBT, I’m feeling optimistic that I can get my anxiety back down to a more manageable level.