While everyone can have anxiety from time to time, when the problem interferes with a person's life, treatment may be necessary. Severe forms of anxiety, including generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety disorder, can find relief from medications, usually alongside psychotherapy, MayoClinic.com reports. Unless anxiety becomes severe and occurs often, doctors may not prescribe drugs for it, or just prescribe them for short-term use until the anxiety symptoms are under control.
Benzodiazepines
Although physicians often prescribe benzodiazepines, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration states that benzodiazepines are among the most widely prescribed medications in the United States to help treat severe anxiety, they do have drawbacks. These drugs include diazepam, lorazepam, chlordiazepoxide, alprazolam and clonazepam. MayoClinic.com states benzodiazepines work effectively and rapidly, but their biggest drawback is physical and mental dependence. Physicians often only prescribe benzodiazepines for short-term use to avoid this problem. Along with anxiety relief, these medicines can induce sleepiness because of their sedation effects.
SSRIs
While doctors most often prescribe antidepressants to help in the treatment of mental depression, they can also help people suffering from severe anxiety and anxiety disorders. MayoClinic.com reports the most often prescribed antidepressants for anxiety generally fall into the category of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs. They include fluoxetine, sertraline, fluvoxamine, citalopram and paroxetine for social anxiety disorder and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). SSRIs function to improve the activity of the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain.
Buspirone
Categorized as an antidepressant, buspirone may work for the long-term treatment of anxiety disorders as well as anxiety symptoms that occur for brief periods, the National Institutes of Health report. The medication functions in the opposite way that SSRIs do, by lowering the serotonin levels in the brain.
Beta Blockers
Physicians frequently prescribe beta blockers to help reduce high blood pressure, but they also can help for specific bouts of anxiety. MayoClinic.com states that the other effects of beta blockers, such as decreasing the heart rate and blood pressure, prohibit their ongoing use for anxiety. Beta blockers can help if taken in relation to a specific event that may cause anxiety. Propranolol and atenolol are the beta blockers often prescribed for social anxiety.
