Here’s my guess of why psychiatrists do what they do. Medication is the quickest way to block fear.
When a psychiatrist first meets a new patient suffering from acute stress, fear or anxiety, he or she is quite likely to prescribe fast-acting medications, such as Xanax or Klonopin. For most psychiatrists, this is the first line of defense for helping distressed people begin to gain some control over their emotional problems . They prescribe it because it works. The distressful feelings magically melt away, at least temporarily.
(It is recommended that these types of medications should be discontinued after two months, as longer use can result in chronic addiction).
At this point, the psychiatrist, if following protocol, will slowly taper the patient off the benzodiazepines, and probably switch to alternate medications such as a long -lasting antidepressant with less addictive qualities. If the second type of medication works, all well and good. Some patients can live comfortably on this second class of drugs for years. Many fail on the second medication, and so a third is tried, and so a fourth……
The problem with this approach is that medicines do not cure the uncomfortable emotion. They simply block it. If the medication is stopped, especially too quickly, there is emotional chaos, with most people experiencing more fear than they felt before they started the medication regimen. It is extremely important that you very gradually come off these medications, as any self-respecting psychiatrist is likely to emphasize. The slower the taper, the better.
So medications work well for about one-third of the people who try them. They are the lucky ones, as long as they never need to come off the medications, and as long as the medications continue to work.