An anxiety disorder can be difficult to handle without treatment. Symptoms can be severe enough that they prevent the patient from doing his normal activities. Anxiety drugs can reduce the severity and frequency of symptoms, allowing the patient to live his life and get help through psychotherapy. Some of the anxiety drugs also treat other disorders, which is beneficial for patients with multiple disorders.
Quick Reduction of Symptoms
Certain medications act rapidly, reducing the patient's anxiety symptoms within a few weeks or even minutes. Benzodiazepines, such as alprazolam, are a quick-acting anti-anxiety medication, taking effect 30 to 60 minutes after ingestion. Benzodiazepines are used on a short-term basis until longer acting anti-anxiety medications start treating symptoms; antidepressants, such as fluoxetine, can take six weeks to take effect. Buspirone is another medication for anxiety that takes about two weeks to start working and can be used on a long-term basis.
Treatment of Comorbid Conditions
Many of the medications used to treat anxiety also are used for other disorders. All types of antidepressants--selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitors (NDRIs), serotonin and norepinephrine (SNRIs), monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) and tricyclic antidepressants--are used to treat both anxiety and depression symptoms. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) notes that beta-blockers, which treat the physical symptoms of anxiety, also treat heart conditions and high blood pressure.
Increased Function
By reducing the severity and frequency of anxiety symptoms, the medications can increase the patient's functioning. The NIMH states that beta-blockers can help a patient with a social phobia deal with a stressful situation that normally would trigger an anxiety attack, such as meeting new people or giving a presentation in front of many people. SSRIs also are prescribed to manage obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms so the patient is not overwhelmed and controlled by associated thoughts and behaviors. If the severity of anxiety symptoms have prevented a patient from entering a therapy program in the past, the medication decreases that severity, allowing the patient to effectively interact with a therapist.
