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If you are talking about settlement for less than owed on your credit cards, then yes your credit score will drop since you have to stop paying them in order to be able to negotiate a settlement. Sometimes they care "charged off" by the creditor before you can reach a settlement with them.

But after the settlement is completed and they are posted as "settled for less" on your credit report, if you start building new credit and always pay on time other items on your credit report like your mortgage and car payments -- you will start rebuilding your credit rather rapidly and within a couple of years your score should be back up. Maybe not as high as where you had been, but to an acceptable level. These items stay on your report for 7 years but the older they are the less the impact on your score.

it depends on what debt solution you are looking for. all will impact your score except for the obvious just suffering through it. but even that if you have large debt that is all maxed out even with timely payments your score will suffer. its all in what you are looking for. settlement is fast, but will impact your score pretty badly but will also repair pretty quickly. bk, will also be fast but will effect your score for a long period of time. debt consolidation an management will hurt, but not as bad as the other 2 but will take a very long time to get the debt paid off