Medications for Anxiety

Many types of medications are used for anxiety. Some of these medications offer relief quickly from the symptoms. Others need to get to a therapeutic level in your system before elevating the symptoms of anxiety. Some medications given for anxiety can be highly addictive while others are not. Here are some of the most commonly prescribed medications for anxiety.

Benzodiazepine

• Benzodiazepine is a class of medication used to treat the symptoms of anxiety. Some of the commonly prescribed drugs in this class are clonazepam, Ativan and Librium. They are used to treat anxiety or panic attacks and also seizure disorders. This medication acts on the nerves and the brain in producing a calming effect. This drug enhances the effects of a natural chemical in the body called GABA. This class of medications works quickly in reducing symptoms of anxiety, usually taking less than an hour for its full effects. Benzodiazepine is usually given for moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety. This drug has a high incidence of abuse and addiction.

Antihistamines

• Antihistamines are also a type of medication that is used to treat anxiety. They are also the type of drug that is given for allergies and congestion from colds or flu. They work well as sedatives in elevating the symptoms of anxiety. Two of these commonly prescribed medications are Atarax and Vistaril. This drug acts quickly, usually with in the hour, and is not addictive like the other tranquilizing drugs used in the same way. For this reason this medication might be prescribed, instead of a drug that is addictive, to someone with a known abuse or addiction problem. This drug is also prescribed for low- to moderate-anxiety symptoms.

Antidepressants

• Antidepressants are another class of drug prescribed to treat anxiety. They affect the activities of the chemicals in the brain that are thought to be related to anxiety disorders. There are three major types of medication under this class of medication. SSRIs, TCAs and MAOIs. There are numerous medications under each of these types of antidepressants. The more commonly used SSRIs are Prozac, Celexa and Zoloft. The MAOIs are an older class of medication, and it is important that you follow a strict diet while taking these. They also can have severe interactions with other medications, so they are not as commonly prescribed today. Elavil is one of the common TCA medications. The TCA type of medication has been useful as a sedative in calming the effects of anxiety. All of these drugs can take up to a month for their full effect to be experienced. These are non-addictive drugs.

Anticonvulsants

• Anticonvulsants are a class of medications that are used to treat anxiety disorders. Depakote, Lamictal and Topamax are some of the commonly prescribed drugs in this category. It is unknown how they work exactly. It is thought that they possibly enhance or inhibit the effects of neurotransmitters that are associated with anxiety. They may block the sodium channels in the brain. These drugs also need to build up to a therapeutic level, for about about four to six weeks, before the full effect is experienced. These are a non-addictive class of drugs.

Atypical Antipsychotic

• Atypical antipsychotic is another class of medication that is used to treat anxiety. Some of the commonly used medications in this family are Abilify, Risperdal and Zyprexa. These medications also work on the chemicals in the brain that are linked to anxiety. Although they were originally developed to treat the symptoms of psychosis, they have been found to help with anxiety symptoms when they are prescribed in addition to other medications. They take some time to get to a therapeutic level in your system with most people. Significant improvement usually seen by the sixth week of treatment with these drugs. Others have reported improvements with in days of begining treatment and some as long as months. These are non-addictive drugs.