Drug Therapy

Medical treatments for anxiety and depression utilize several types of drugs. If the cause of the anxiety or depression is a physical ailment, treatment will be designed to eliminate the particular ailment. This might involve surgery or other medication to regulate a physical anxiety trigger. Often, however, medicines such as antidepressants, benzodiazepines, tricyclics, and beta-blockers are used to control some of the physical and mental symptoms.

 

Benzodiazepines

Anxiety historically has been treated with a class of drugs called benzodiazepines. Their use has declined, however, due to their addictive nature. These drugs tend to have side-effects such as drowsiness and possible dependency. Some common benzodiazepines include:

  • Diazepam (Valium)

  • Alprazolam (Xanax)

  • Lorazepam (Ativan)

  • Clonazepam (Klonopin)

Serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI)

Anti-depressants - especially those in the class of serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) - are also commonly used to treat anxiety and depression. SSRIs have fewer side effects than older anti-depressants, but it is possible that they can cause jitters, nausea, and sexual dysfunction when treatment begins. Some anti-depressants include:

  • Sertraline (Zoloft)

  • Paroxetine (Paxil)

  • Fluoxetine (Prozac)

  • Escitalopram (Lexapro)

  • Citalopram (Celexa)

  • Venlafaxine (Effexor)

Tricyclics

Tricyclics are a class of drugs that are older than SSRIs and have been shown to work well for most anxiety disorders other than obsessive-compulsive disorder. These drugs are known to cause side-effects such as dizziness, drowsiness, dry mouth, and weight gain. Two types of tricyclics include:

  • Imipramine (Tofranil)

  • Clomipramine (Anafranil)

MAOIs

MAOIs, such as phenelzine (Nardil), tranylcypromine (Parnate), and isocarboxazid (Marplan), are an older type of anti-depressant that is used to treat some anxiety disorders. These drugs carry with them several restrictions on diet and prevent one from taking other medications such as pain relievers.

 

Beta-blockers

Beta-blockers, such as propranolol (Inderal), Metoprolol (Lopressor), are usually used to treat heart conditions, but they can also treat physical symptoms that accompany some anxiety disorders; they are used off-label and periodically for public speaking and performance related anxiety. Many controlled trials in the past 25 years indicate beta blockers are effective in anxiety disorders, though the mechanism of action is not known; while it is assumed that it is due to the drugs ability to block adrenaline receptor sites. Some people have used beta blockers for performance enhancement, and especially to combat performance anxiety. In particular, musicians, public speakers, actors, and professional dancers have been known to use beta blockers to avoid stage fright and tremor during public performances and especially auditions..

 

The physiological symptoms of the fight-or-flight response associated with performance anxiety and panic (pounding heart, cold/clammy hands, increased respiration, sweating, etc.) are significantly reduced, thus enabling anxious individuals to concentrate on the task at hand. Stutterers also use beta blockers to avoid fight-or-flight responses, hence reducing the tendency to stutter. Officially, beta blockers are not approved for anxiolytic use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

 

*Disclaimer: This content is provided for general information purposes only. The information contained within this page does not constitute medical or pharmaceutical advice, which should be sought from qualified medical and pharmaceutical advisers.