If you have severe anxiety that's interfering with your ability to function, medication may be helpful—especially as a short-term treatment. However, many people use anti-anxiety medication when therapy, exercise, or other self-help strategies would work just as well or better, minus the drawbacks.
Medication isn't a cure for anxiety, but it can help improve anxiety symptoms for many different types of anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and phobias.
In the case of anti-anxiety medications, side effects can range from an upset stomach to confusion, and from muscle weakness to sexual dysfunction. There are logical reasons for side effects. First, keep in mind that brain functions rely on neurotransmitters, chemicals that allow neurons to communicate with each other.
Results generally show that approximately 70% of patients will respond to adequate BZ treatment (up to 40 mg/day of diazepam or equivalent for at least 3-4 weeks), but less than two thirds will achieve remission of symptoms.
What does Anti-anxiety Medications (Benzodiazepines) do? Benzodiazepines enhance the activity of the neurotransmitter GABA—a chemical in the brain that helps you to feel calm. Their effect also produces drowsiness, making it easier to fall asleep and sleep through the night.
It's worth talking to a doctor if you can't bring yourself to leave the house because you fear something bad might happen. If you worry so much that you find yourself with physical sensations, like shaking or hot flashes, a doctor, and perhaps anxiety medication, can help.
When you're benefiting from antidepressants, you should feel: A mood that is less depressed, less irritable, happier, and more content. Excitement for and pleasure in everyday activities and events. An ability to regulate your eating patterns without eating too much or too little.
Anxiety is a mental health condition that causes ongoing worry that's hard to control. Experts don't know for sure what causes anxiety, but it seems there's a link to genetics, environment, and life experiences. Some of these things are beyond your control, which means anxiety can't be cured completely.
Short-term medications are helpful during brief episodes of intense anxiety, such as a panic attack. These medications take effect almost immediately and usually start to wear off within a few hours. They should not be taken daily unless your doctor explicitly recommends it.
Anxiety disorders are the most common of mental disorders. They affect nearly 30% of adults at some point in their lives. However, anxiety disorders are treatable with a number of psychotherapeutic treatments.
Drinking alcohol with anxiety medications can worsen side effects, such as extreme sleepiness, difficulty concentrating, and slowed breathing. These side effects can lead to accidental injuries with serious and sometimes fatal consequences.
Instead, it usually is diagnosed as generalized anxiety disorder. The term "high-functioning anxiety" represents people who exhibit anxiety symptoms while maintaining a high level of functionality in various aspects of their lives.
General guidelines for treatment suggest that for a first treatment episode, keeping people on medication once they fully respond and are essentially free of symptoms for somewhere around a year or two years seems prudent and reasonable.
Some people turn to food for comfort when experiencing difficult emotions, and anxiety medications may make them more susceptible to weight gain. Anxiety medications can affect a person's metabolism and cause them to burn calories slower than they would normally.
FDA-approved medications to treat anxiety include SSRIs, SNRIs, buspirone, benzodiazepines, and hydroxyzine. Your doctor may prescribe another medication off-label if they think it is the best option to treat your condition.
feeling tense, nervous or unable to relax. having a sense of dread, or fearing the worst. feeling like the world is speeding up or slowing down. feeling like other people can see you're anxious and are looking at you.
Fortunately, anxiety is highly treatable. Self-help strategies to overcome anxiety can be helpful, but it is also important to talk to your doctor about your treatment options. By taking steps to get better, you can help ensure that your anxiety isn't keeping you from achieving the things you want to do.
More intense manifestations of anxiety can include extreme and persistent fear in the face of everyday situations. And having that intense form of anxiety for prolonged periods of time is considered an anxiety attack, a condition which can last anywhere from several minutes to weeks on end.
Unaddressed underlying factors are the main reason people repeatedly rebound to anxiety disorder and symptoms. Yes, we can eliminate anxiety disorder and feel completely normal again – actually, we can feel much better than normal once we've done our recovery work. But we must do the right work.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
SSRIs are a type of medication people may use as a treatment for depression. People may also use SSRIs to treat mental health conditions that can cause intrusive thoughts, such as: OCD.
It's usually recommended that a course of antidepressants continues for at least 6 months after you feel better, to prevent your condition recurring when you stop. Some people with recurrent illness are advised to carry on taking medicine indefinitely.
Certain medications can cause or worsen anxiety, especially if you have been diagnosed with an anxiety condition. If you're having trouble with these symptoms and have ruled out other causes, it might be the medication you're taking.