Anxiety Medicines: Pros and Cons of Medication for Anxiety
You’ve been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, and your first priority is to
treat it and get your mental health back to normal as quickly as you possibly
can.
But your doctor has explained to you that the therapy involved in overcoming
your disorder will take some time to be effective, and has suggested anxiety
medicines to reduce your symptoms while you're undergoing therapy.
There are a number of prescription drugs which can be used as anxiety medicines.
A breakdown of the ways in which most commonly used drugs work may be helpful,
but it is essential that you understand that anxiety medicines are no substitute
for confronting the underlying causes of your anxiety disorder.
For anxiety sufferers who are not also experiencing depression, the
benzodiazepine class of anxiety medicines is widely prescribed. These drugs
include Valium, Librium, Ativan, and Xanax, and are useful in treating
generalized anxiety and panic disorders, and social phobias. They are
metabolized quickly so will relieve anxiety symptoms in a short time, but can
become addicting with extended use. They are not effective anxiety medicines for
obsessive-compulsive or post-traumatic stress disorders.
A more recent addition to the group of anxiety
medicines is the azipirone family of drugs. Used to help with
generalized anxiety disorder, they require several weeks of use
before they have a beneficial effect. They are, however, less
likely to cause dependency that the benzodiazepines. They too
are not useful in treating obsessive-compulsive and
post-traumatic stress disorders.
Some anti-depressant medications have also been found to work
well as anxiety medicines. The most widely used of these is the
family of SSRIs, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
Unlike the benzodiazepines and aziprones, they function as
anxiety medications against every kind of disorder.
The SSRIs include Paxil, Proxac, and Lexapro. Treatment with
these anxiety medicines usually starts with low doses which are
increased over time to the most beneficial amount. Because they
have been inked to increased risk of suicide in some people
suffering with depression, however, SSRIs must be carefully
monitored.
Anxiety medicines are known to have a variety of side effects.
These can include anything from drowsiness and short-term memory
loss to nausea, headaches, nervousness, and impairment of sexual
function. So it is critical that you let your doctor know if
your anxiety medicines are causing you any problems. And you
should also tell your doctor about any other medications--both
prescription and over-the-counter--which you may be taking. Your
anxiety medicines may interact negatively with them.
Finally, don’t expect your anxiety medicines to perform
miracles. They are meant to be used only as long as it takes you
to overcome the real problems in your life, your anxiety
disorder and its underlying causes.
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