Control Anxiety

Anxiety medication is known to help relieve anxiety & depression. However, since every person reacts differently, the medication does not cure anxiety completely but reduces it's symptoms to a good extent.

Anxiety is a mental disorder in which a person constantly anticipates & expects bad to happen. Therefore, this psychological condition needs special attention when a person's daily routine life starts getting affected. As modern day research suggests, brain biochemistry is a critical contributing factor to this disorder and medications can surely help an anxious person get balanced.

The form of anxiety treatment a person should go for usually depends on the type of anxiety. The disease is diagnosed usually based on evident physical symptoms. Medication for anxiety is able in various forms such as anti-depressants and beta blockers.

Anti depressant drugs tend to increase the level of serotonin (a brain chemical messenger) and this helps in fighting anxiety. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), Serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), and Tricyclics are a few antidepressants which have been effectively used as anxiety disorder treatments.

Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) are the most old and trustable antidepressants out there, which have shown remarkable results in treating anxiety disorders. However, MAOIs are generally used only when the other medications fail to give results since of the side effects of this medicine can lead to insomnia and also weight gain in some cases.

Serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are approved by the FDA and are often used and recommended as a quality, top of the line treatment. The 3 notable SSRIs antidepressants that have received approval from FDA for the treatment of social anxiety are sertraline (Zoloft), paroxetine (Paxil) and venlafaxine (Effexor XR).

The dosage for this medicine is determined by how the person reacts to it. At first a low dosage is prescribed and then later on is increased with time, depending upon its effect on the patient. Tricyclics can sometimes lead to dizziness, drowsiness as well as sexual dysfunction, therefore, SSRIs are much more preferable.

Anti anxiety medication are high potent benzodiazepines, which tend to calm an individual and also alleviate the anxiety symptoms very quickly. Benzodiazepine includes drugs namely Kalma, Xanax, Tranxene, Restoril and Valium. Although these medicines act fast, they don't have a long term effect on the patient. They also have a few side effects such as fatigue and drowsiness. Benzodiazepines are only prescribed for a short period of time, as a person can become dependent on these drugs and develop a tolerance to them, and might even experience withdrawal symptoms on stopping the usage. However, panic disorder is the only exception, in which these medicines are used for as long as six months or a whole year. These types of drugs are found to be addictive and are not prescribed for patients who have a dependence history.

Beta blockers are also used to treat anxiety and are known to be extremely useful in treating performance anxiety, which is very predictable. Medicines in this category, such as Tenormin and Inderal help relieve sweating, tremors, blushing, heart palpitations and other physical symptoms of anxiety. However, beta-blockers may not prove to be effective for long term treatment in curing negative anxiety creating thoughts. These medicines should preferably be consumed an hour before the anxiety situation.

Medications might not totally cure your anxiety disorder, but they do help in keeping track of symptoms, and controlling them, helping the individual to lead an ordinary, smooth life.