Can An Urgent Care Prescribe Anti-Anxiety Medication?

Urgent care centers typically treat conditions like cuts, sprains, bad colds, and other short-term concerns. Can they also help people who are having a mental health crisis?

For example, can an urgent care prescribe anti-anxiety medication?

Learn more about anxiety medication prescribing practices, and contact Time Wellness to learn more about psychiatry in Atlanta, GA.

Can an Urgent Care Prescribe Anti-Anxiety Medication?

Anxiety disorders are chronic (long-term) conditions that are frequently treated with a combination of prescription medication management and therapy. 

Since treatment for these conditions often occurs over the span of several years, it may be somewhat uncommon for someone to seek anti-anxiety meds at an urgent care, which is designed to address acute health problems that need immediate attention.

But in a nation as large as the United States, even “uncommon” occurrences can happen with some regularity. So, what happens when a person makes this type of request? Can an urgent care prescribe anti-anxiety medications?

Yes, the doctors, physician assistants (PAs), and nurse practitioners (NPs) who work at urgent care facilities have the same ability to prescribe medications as do those who work in hospitals or private practices. That ability includes prescribing meds to alleviate anxiety and other mental health concerns.

Of course, you can’t get anti-anxiety meds – or any other type of prescription medication, for that matter – simply by showing up at an urgent care and asking for the drugs.  

Who Can Get Anti-Anxiety Meds From an Urgent Care?

As alluded to earlier, urgent care centers aren’t designed to help people manage long-term health concerns. 

Instead, they exist primarily to help people who have moderate to severe health challenges that need immediate attention, but aren’t life-threatening. (For acute, life-threatening problems, going to an emergency room or calling 911 are better options than trying to get seen in an urgent care.)

To decide if a patient needs anti-anxiety medications, urgent care treatment providers will assess several factors, including the type, severity, and duration of a person’s symptoms, as well as what may be causing those symptoms.

Acute vs. Chronic

In some circumstances, the word “acute” can mean “severe.” When it’s used in reference to medical and mental health conditions, as it is in today’s post, it doesn’t have this connotation.

Instead, it is used to differentiate short- and long-term conditions:

• Acute symptoms typically occur quickly but don’t last for an extended period. Treating a person with acute mental health symptoms, as might occur in an urgent care, is a matter of reducing their current level of emotional pain so that they can achieve stabilization. 
• Chronic concerns are problems that can last for years, if not for a person’s entire life. Generalized anxiety disorders are examples of chronic mental health conditions. The goal of treating someone who has a chronic mental health condition usually focuses on helping them learn to manage their symptoms so they have a less disruptive impact on their daily life.

Some health conditions, such as anxiety, can cross the line between acute and chronic. For example, a panic attack is an acute symptom that may result from a chronic anxiety disorder. 

Here’s why understanding the difference between acute and chronic can be valuable when discussing whether you can get anti-anxiety medication from an urgent care:

• If you’ve been experiencing the symptoms of an anxiety disorder for a while, and have finally decided to seek treatment, that is NOT an appropriate reason for seeking medication at an urgent care.
• If you have had a sudden, acute flare-up of particularly severe symptoms, such as intense panic-like distress that causes you to fear that your life may be in danger, you may receive anti-anxiety meds after being examined at an urgent care facility. 

Severity and Level of Disruption

While the two examples above focused on the differences between acute and chronic symptoms, they also involved two other areas that can affect whether or not you get meds: the severity of your symptoms and the level of disruption they are causing.

Unless you are experiencing symptoms that significantly impair your ability to function, or that you believe may pose a threat to your life, you should probably wait to see your family doctor or schedule an appointment with a mental health professional.

There is at least one scenario that goes against these general parameters. If you have been taking anti-anxiety medication for an extended period, lost or ran out of your meds, and can’t get an immediate appointment with your doctor to get your prescription refilled, urgent care may be an option. 

Even in a case like that, though, you should only try to get anti-anxiety medication from an urgent care if you’re dealing with:

• The sudden return of intense anxiety symptoms
• The onset of highly disruptive withdrawal symptoms

Again, it’s important to remember that urgent cares are designed to treat acute, severe symptoms that demand prompt attention. 

If you have manageable symptoms and an appointment with your doctor the next day, you may be better off waiting to see your primary physician. But if you feel that you are at a crisis level and need immediate relief, that would justify seeking help at an urgent care. 

What Happens After You Get Anti-Anxiety Medication from an Urgent Care

If you have anxiety symptoms that are severe enough to seek stabilization at an urgent care center, it’s extremely important to make a follow-up appointment with a doctor or therapist:

• If you’re already under professional care for anxiety, your treatment provider help you process the experience that sent you to urgent care and make any necessary adjustments to your treatment plan.
• If you’re not already getting help for anxiety, the urgent care staff should be able to refer you to an appropriate treatment provider in your area. 

In either case, follow-on care can make the difference between successfully managing your symptoms or continuing to experience sudden attacks of severe distress.

There’s no “right way” to treat anxiety that works for every person. So when you’re seeking ongoing help, be sure to find a provider who will assess the full scope of your symptoms, then develop a customized treatment plan just for you. 

Untreated anxiety can be highly disruptive. But when you get the help you need, you can make sustained progress toward a healthier and more hopeful tomorrow.

Find Anxiety Treatment in Atlanta

Time Wellness Georgia offers personalized outpatient care for individuals who have anxiety, depression, PTSD, and other mental health concerns. We also offer dual diagnosis services for clients with co-occurring substance use disorders (addictions).

Treatment options at our center in Atlanta, GA, include a partial hospitalization program (PHP), an intensive outpatient program (IOP), an adolescent IOP, and a virtual (online) program.

To learn more about how we can help you or a loved one, or to schedule a free assessment, please visit our admissions page or call us today.