Anxiety Medicine

The administration of any form of anxiety medicine should be done at the doctor’s recommendation and under close medical observation. The thing is that tranquilizers or anti-anxiety drugs are not a treatment for the panic disorder in itself, they only alleviate or eliminate the symptoms. Anxiety medicine has very severe adverse reactions when administered on the long term, but even for short treatments side effects are often signaled: there may be mouth dryness, nausea, weight gain, depression, sleepiness, thinking impairment, poor coordination and so on. The normal classes of anti-anxiety medication include the traditional benzodiazepines, the antidepressants and the beta-blockers.

Valium, Klonopin and Xanax are in the benzodiazepine anxiety medicine category. Their major inconvenience is the risk of causing physical addiction within months if not weeks of administration. Caution and a minimum usage period are the only way of staying on the safe side during administration. Antidepressants are in fact the anxiety medication with the lowest addictive potential. However, antidepressants are not free of side effects either as they can increase the panic disorder on certain occasions, causing agitation, hostility and even suicidal thoughts.

The doctor could also prescribe an anxiety medicine from the group of the beta blockers that are normally used for the treatment of heart disease and hypertension. Their presence in the treatment of panic disorders is explained by their reduction of the stress hormone secretion that triggers the body’s fight-or-flight response. Many of the symptoms specific to panic attacks can be kept under control by means of such an anxiety medicine, yet, the most common conditions treated like this include social phobia cases as well as performance anxiety. All the drugs you take have to be prescribed by the doctor, and a careful monitoring of the health condition is a necessity.

Consequently, the patient’s medical history and health condition determine the choice of the most suitable anxiety medicine. Plus, only a doctor can tell how much good such pills will do to one’s condition. Some specialists will not even prescribe drugs but rather go for therapy for treating the panic attacks and ending the vicious cycle of anxiety. In fact psychotherapy represents the only way of curing this nervous health problem, since medication only alleviates symptoms without bringing good health.

Filed Under: Anxiety