It is interesting to note that when the various psychiatric drug side effect databases are searched for side effects, the alarming number of incidences of Parkinsonism crop up especially with SSRIs. Can't recall the names of the sites but google the terms and they pop up.

I took Paxil just as my tremor made its world debut; I noticed that the Paxil made me more anxious and stopped it after a months or so. What scares me about these drugs is that they are intended for severe clinical depression, and they may as well be Skittles to a doctor. There is a patient run site called Crazy Meds that puts it all into perspective:

1.  Should You Be Taking Meds in the First Place?

There’s a huge paradox regarding neurological & psychiatric medications in the US and many other countries. Many people who need to take drugs can’t or won’t because the stigma - either cultural, or due to pressures and expectations of their families - is too great, and/or they don’t have the money.1 Yet there are also people who are needlessly taking meds thanks to Big Pharma’s. 2. marketing campaigns, especially to doctors, along with their disease mongering.3 And there’s always one study after another showing how antidepressants only work for those of us with severe depression.

They are not for the occasional "I feel fat" blues or feeling the "blahs" but for severe depression; the disabling "my daughter had to remind me I hadn't showered in four days" kind. Now think of how readily even your GP will whip out the prescription pad. Neurologists are no better. I can't believe that no one really knows what is going on with our other neurotransmitters, but clearly as a PD patient our biochemical profile is already whack, so I would think that they would bypass any sort of reuptake inhibitors and go old school using some of the older, tried and true tricyclic antidepressants. Nope, too seduced into the idea that newer is always better.

The med literature is replete with studies that show Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to be just as beneficial for depression and anxiety as meds and some show that therapy actually worked better than medication. The results last too. Now there is a newer form of therapy called "Behavioral Activation" complete with token rewards and all. This supposedly surpasses even meds and CBT...just sharing on the off chance this may help someone here with PD or not who is suffering from anxiety or panic. CBT worked wonders for me and really helped me regain a sense of control I had lost. I could hug my doctor for suggesting it as a treatment option.

For a real opener see the writing of Dr. Peter Breggin.

Laura