do medications help with anxiety? or are they just sugar pills?

Take them!!! They'll help you!! 

If you get the right one, it'll make you feel a lot better than you do with anxiety! they certainly are not sugar pills. They help stop the constant worries and panic. Try them! You can always stop taking them.

It depends what your diagnosis is and which oill you take. They are working on a way to determine the actual issue in the brain so they can perscribe the correct medicine. Sometimes they label you wrong and then give you the wrong medicine, but you will know pretty fast if it helps or not. If it is all done right it can be lovely. So yes sometimes they work well. Every medicine has side effects so you have to see for yourself how they react with your body chemsitry.

I think if you can you should try other things first, natural things like exercise, reading, meditation, distraction techniques, have a look do a bit of research, I don't believe meds are always the answer, maybe for a short term reprieve, but the root cause is always there, your just masking it, because what happens when. Eventually you want to come off, or if you don't find the right one for you. If people are happy to take them that's there perogetive, that's just my opinion, I do have diazepam, but I only use it when my anxiety is at its worst, only to sleep at night it just turns the right parts off, to go to sleep.but otherwise I persevere, distract myself and try and get on with it.

Yes the right ones definitely work. You will know yourself whether you need to take them or not.

They can work for some, but not for others. They help with the feelings associated with anxiety or depression but they don't resolve the reasons for it. Therapy works well, again not for everyone. Its just whatever works for you. Don't be forced into meds if you'd rather not, there are other options

I agree that it would be wonderful not to take meds and use other methods but sometimes anxiety and depression happens for no reason at all and is difficult to control. I have had counseling, CBT but found it really hard to put into practise. Also trying meditation but feel too anxious to concentrate and came out feeling hopeless after last class!! It all depends on how anxious or depressed you are.

I can certainly understand your point Jez, but without them where would we be?

The same argument has been muted for many years concerning many prescribed medications, but if we do not take what has been prescribed for us we will never know if they could have improved our situation.

In my particular case I suffer with a spinal condition, high blood pressure, pernicious anemia, Diabetes and Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy, and I am absolutely certain that without my medications I would no longer be on this planet.

Sometimes I think that the medical fraternity experiment with us, but even if that is true when the correct medication is found ones health problems generally improve, or at very worst leave us with something that we can be live with.

Thanks everyone for the replys. Im just hesitant on taking meds cause i dont want them to change my personallity (for the worse).