How to cope with stress do any of you take anti anxiety medication?

Don’t take it man. Can rlly screw you up.

I’ve found prayer and reading the Bible rlly help curb stress in my life.

Sry if this sounds trite, comes from a well meaning place

To be in this industry you need to accept you will be constantly stressed and your mental and physical health will take a toll. By the time you hit 30, the costs of this lifestyle become extremely clear on people’s faces and physiques. 

If you’re just in banking for 2 years, I would really focus on sleeping as much as possible and doing everything in your power to avoid all nighters, stop drinking entirely, clean up your diet (high protein not just salads), do some amount of exercise every day (even just a 20 min walk), and try and plan something small for fun on the weekend every week (you may have to cancel it, but it’s still better to have something to look forward to). I would also try and get a therapist or counselor who you can vent to once a week so you don’t dump all of that built up resentment and stress on your friends and family. 

The reality is that this industry is inherently a deeply unhealthy lifestyle and you have to accept you are trading health for professional / financial benefit. 

So I am the "handling with stress" expert:

a) you have stressors so have coping mechanisms

b) establish healthy coping mechanisms like drawing, athletics and such

c) if you can't cope on your own, use benzos

Do not take medication for your mental health if the cause of your issues is external. All that means is you need to develop better coping mechanisms and healthy habits to offset the external stressors.

Anti-anxiety medication has its place, and it's for people with clinically diagnosed chemical imbalances in their brains. 

The usual is tried and true, but hard to do consistently:

• Proper hydration
• Consistent and diverse exercise routine
• Journaling/serious introspection (this is especially key to learning about yourself and what makes you tick, what your stressors are, accurately diagnosing them with a professional if need be, etc.)
• Creative outlet
• Meditative/prayer/spiritual practices (find what works for you and allows you to take a step back and spiritually recharge)
• Reading
• Learning when to ask for help and/or say no (not to be a yes man)
• Depending on your personality type, surrounding yourself and interacting with diverse people

"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day." (Matthew 6:34)

Lots of people have commented helpful advice. Definitely incorporate it. But above all, you really have to be honest with yourself if the stress is something you can handle long term. 

Some people truly are built different - they can handle multiple nights of no sleep, the bs of the job and the poor communication from superiors well. I knew early on that thats something I couldn't, and self selected into Research/Investment Management, mostly because of a greater interest in the work but partly because of the understanding that 70-80 hours a week is the upper bound of what I can take. 

There's no universal one-size-fits-all answer to this question. I don't use medication. Family members of mine do. Different people will have different experiences with different protocols. 

You should talk to a professional and specifically try non-medical solutions as well as a variety of medical protocols. There are a multitude of strategies and you'd be short-changing yourself by not trying to find what works best for you. 

I smoke weed