Medication for Situational Anxiety

Situational anxiety, also known as “performance anxiety” or “stage fright,” occurs in many adults. Tasks such as giving a speech or demonstrating other talents in front of a group of people can lead to anxiety and even panic attacks. Performance anxiety also affects people’s sexuality, making them unable to perform physically.

Beta Blockers

• Beta blockers are medications usually used to treat heart conditions and high blood pressure. However, beta blockers have been shown to block the receptors that control the physical effects of the natural “fight or flight” response. This means they can control outside responses to fear such as sweating, shaking, trembling in the voice and other physical traits of anxiety.

Inderal

• Inderal, also known as Propranolol, is a medication which is very successful for people suffering with performance and situational anxiety. Inderal is one of the best beta blockers. It should be cautioned that beta blockers such as Inderal only control the physical responses to fear such as sweating and shaking. They do not help the emotional responses to anxiety such as the feeling of fear, worry or stress.

Benzodiazepines

• Benzodiazepines work by releasing extra amounts of the brain chemical GABA, which slows down the brain’s processing. Benzodiazepines are quite potent and begin to work immediately within the brain. Unfortunately, they are also very addictive and should be taken with great care and caution.

Antidepressants

• A lot of antidepressants can help mood. When the mood is corrected in some people, so is their disposition and response to anxiety and negative thinking. Antidepressants are used for generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and post traumatic stress disorder. Antidepressants can be very helpful against situational anxiety. They generally take four to six weeks to become active.

Buspirone

• Buspirone, also known as BuSpar, is a well-known anti-anxiety medication. It is often used for genarilized anxiety disorder and other conditions related to anxiety. Like anti-depressants, buspirone takes about four to six weeks to begin to work effectively in the brain.