Anti-anxiety medication

July 22, 2007 8:43 AM

I would like to try anti-anxiety medication. How do I go about this in Toronto?

I've had (social) anxiety problems for a long time. Life is good, but quite limited. I do not have a family doctor, so I am wondering how I can go about trying it and what the entire process is like. Any related advice about it is welcome. Thanks!

posted by anonymous to health (6 comments total)

Assuming you are covered under OHIP, get a doctor. There are plenty in Toronto. They will talk to you about it and perhaps write you a prescription. Otherwise you can go to a walk-in clinic and tell them you don't have a family doctor.
posted by GleepGlop at 8:57 AM on July 22, 2007

Unlike Quebec, where any available family doctors are hidden under a veil of utmost secrecy, Ontario offers the wonderful Easy Family Doctor Search from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. Just be sure to check off the "Family physicians accepting new patients" field.
posted by furtive at 10:27 AM on July 22, 2007

I'll add that the search recommended by furtive is great -- I got my family doctor that way -- but you may find the advanced search linked from the main page to be more effective as it allows you to choose, for example, what hospitals you want your doctor to be associated with.
posted by maudlin at 11:55 AM on July 22, 2007

If Canada is anything like the US, you may find it difficult to find a doctor, especially a new one, that is willing to prescribe anti-anxiety medicine right off the bat, since many of them, like xanax, have a high potential for addiction. They have beome very leary of drug-seekers (I've had this happen to me even though I was not one.) They might prescribe an antidepressant that has anti-anxiety features, more readily. There are some that target social anxiety in particular (although I can't remember which one now).

Good luck! I know how awful that anxiety can be.
posted by la petite marie at 12:39 PM on July 22, 2007

wouldn't a family doctor typically provide a referral to a psychiatrist?
posted by drjimmy11 at 3:42 PM on July 22, 2007

Get a doctor, who will refer you to a psychiatrist, who will work with you to find the best solution to your problems. If that solution includes drugs, then that is how you will get drugs.
posted by Kololo at 6:47 PM on July 22, 2007