"Mary" - 36 year old female suffering from anxiety, depression & drug addiction

This week we interviewed "Mary" who is a 36 year old female who suffers from anxiety, depression, stress, and drug addiction. "Mary" was first diagnosed with depression and anxiety in 1993 after her parents passed away just six months apart. "Mary's" father died in June, 1993 and she was pregnant at the time with her second child. While still pregnant in September, 1993, she lost her mother to cancer. Two weeks later she went into labor and due to complications, she was forced into an emergency c-section delivery. During this surgery the doctor nicked the bowel which resulted in a temporary colostomy. Due to this complication, "Mary" was forced to remain in the hospital and her infant son was brought home without her. Upon arriving home, she was too depressed and anxious to care for her own needs but was forced to care for her 3 year old and newborn son. These unfortunate events was the beginning of her thirteen year bout with depression, anxiety, and drug addiction.

Over the past thirteen years, "Mary" has seen many physicians and was prescribed numerous medications. She was prescribed Ambien to help her sleep and since Ambien is a sleeping pill which has the potential to become addictive, she soon stopped taking this drug. She was then given Xanax, an anti-anxiety medication that can also be habit forming. While still on the Xanax, she was prescribed anti-depressants; but since anti-depressants sometimes take up to six weeks to become effective, "Mary" did not allow these medications the opportunity to work before she stopped taking them.

In 2001 she acquired a new family physician and he diagnosed her with Degenerative Disc Disease and prescribed her Vicodin ES for pain associated with her disease. Five years later "Mary" is still on Vicodin and has increased her dosage from the prescribed four pills a day to ten just to "feel normal". The increased dosage has forced her obtain her additional dosage illegally and she has resorted to "doctor shopping" to obtain the additional quantity needed to support her present state of addiction. She has also been prescribed Lexapro for the past year and has noticed some improvement in her depression and anxiety attacks. Lexapro is a newer anti-depressant on the market.

"Mary" is currently divorced and both of her boys live with her ex-husband in another state. She now has a three year old daughter from a new relationship.

Additionally, "Mary" has admitted to a few new addictions...the Internet and her DVR. She states that if she is not sleeping, she is watching her recorded shows on her DVR or chatting with her "cyber" friends online. She is not certain if she will ever change her habits as long as she is addicted to Vicodin.

"Mary" is not alone when it comes to depression, anxiety attacks, and stress. Often one illness leads to another and you can find yourself with a drug addiction too. If you are seeing more than one physician for your symptoms, please allow the doctors to co-ordinate your care so that you do not take medications that can interact and cause additional problems. Also, we suggest you thoroughly read the literature provided with your medications. Potentially habit forming drugs are meant for short-term use and become addictive if used over a long period of time. It is a well-known fact that many physicians have a tendency to over-prescribe these habit forming medications and it is your responsibility to take an active role in your own health care.

Finally, we recommend you allow a longer period of time for your anti-depressant medications to work as many of these drugs are "build-up" medications and may not reach their full effect for four to six weeks. It is also important that you take the anti-depressant medication at the same time each day and that you do not "double up" on the medication should you forget. if you should forget to take your medication one day, take it as soon as you remember and make that your new time to take the medication on each subsequent day.