Pre-employment drug tests and Xanax

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-11-2003
Pre-employment drug tests and Xanax
4
Thu, 03-15-2007 - 2:06pm
I have moderate to severe OCD and anxiety/panic attacks. I am in therapy and taking 60 mgs of Celexa a day and 150 mgs of Wellbutrin SR twice a day, plus Xanax as needed. This has helped tremendously, and although I do not have to take the Xanax very often anymore, I did have to take .5 mgs twice a day until the new dosage of Celexa kicked in (40 mgs did pretty much nothing for me). I am currently between jobs and, oddly enough, work best in fairly high stress jobs. My concern is that many jobs that I am applying for drug test and I would probably need to show them the prescription bottle showing that I was prescribed Xanax by a doctor. I know that many times in job interviews I have been asked, "How do you handle stress?" I am not sure how to handle this question given that I would probably have to explain why I am on Xanax. I was prescribed Klonopin for panic attacks before, but this was after I had already started a job so it wasn't a big deal and nobody but me and my doctor knew about it (FYI, the panic attacks came before that job. It just took a while before the doctors could determine that panic attacks were what was causing my symptoms). I just am not sure how to handle this and will probably have interviews coming up soon. In a high stress job that I very much enjoyed, I was put on a committee to improve the entire system so I am very competent, I just do not want them writing me off either thinking that I don't handle stress well or that I have a drug problem if I don't explain to them why I am on Xanax.
I hope this makes sense. Has anyone been in this situation before, and, if so, how did you handle it?
Thanks for any advice that you can give.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-11-2004
Thu, 03-15-2007 - 2:53pm

Hi!

 

 


 



iVillage Member
Registered: 03-22-2003
Thu, 03-15-2007 - 10:22pm

My therapist and I have had this conversation many times, it is a very real fear of mine.

Sheri Ann

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-11-2003
Sat, 03-17-2007 - 2:26pm
Thank you, both of you, for your advice. I hadn't really given this much thought until recently when I started sending out the applications and resumes so I hadn't discussed it yet with my therapist. I will try to take that advice and also talk with my therapist about it at my appointment next week since sometimes I "overshare" information. Maybe she can work with me to get the proper balance in between too much information and answering their questions.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-22-2003
Sat, 03-17-2007 - 6:41pm

I've been given this some more thought, and I'm thinking that with all the new privacy issues and HIPPA, I wonder if they can disclose your meds to your prospective employer.

Sheri Ann