A Florida woman claims the antianxiety medication Xanax has made her a 'better mom.'

"It helps me be a better mom," Melbourne mother Hope Chanda told CNN. "I look forward to taking my medication. I'm more flexible, tolerant, and rational. Before, when the kids were being a problem, I would get frustrated and yell immediately. Now, we work through the problem."

Chanda and her husband Joe have 6-year-old twin boys. After suffering from late night panic attacks, she began taking half a milligram of Xanax twice a day, and 20 milligrams of the antidepressant Celexa at night.

Chanda thinks Moms shouldn't shy away from Xanax as a better way of dealing with stress than taking it out on the kids.

"It's really hard for moms to put their well-being first, but they have to help themselves before they can help their children and families."

Dr. Carole Lieberman, a psychiatrist and faculty member at UCLA's Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, cautions any mom or dad who thinks Xanax will make them a better parent. She believes using Xanax without attending therapy sessions is dangerous.

"You should not take psychiatric medication unless you are in psychotherapy," Dr. Carole Lieberman said. "The medication is a Band-Aid to combat the symptoms while you work on the root of the problem."

But according to John Buffington of Philadelphia, who has two children and takes one Claritin tablet and 20 milligrams of Celexa every morning, medication is the only affordable option.

"I spent a couple years in therapy," Buffington said. "But then the insurance stopped covering it and it became too big of an expense."