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Antidepressants For Anxiety

By Tess Thompson

With the increase in anxiety disorders and the fact that many youngsters are being afflicted with this problem, a lot of research is being conducted to develop new remedies and treatments to provide anxiety relief. While combating the ever-increasing social, family and work pressures, we tend to become prey to stress and tensions leading onto many psychological issues, anxiety disorder being one of them.

The main symptoms of anxiety disorder are insomnia, restlessness, dizziness, sweaty palms, increased heartbeat, tingling sensation in the limbs and rapid breathing. Recurrent bouts of anxiety disorder can lead to other serious health conditions like heart diseases among others.

And therefore, it is important to seek treatment at the earliest. There are many remedies for anxiety disorder that vary from natural treatments for anxiety to the conventional medication. Medication should be used if the condition becomes severe.

There are many classes of medicines used for treating anxiety disorder of panic attacks. These are antidepressants, serotonin reuptake blocking agents, benzodiazepines, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, beta-blockers and other tranquilizers.

Amongst these, the most common form of medication used is antidepressants. Antidepressants are generally classified into tricyclic antidepressants and other antidepressants. Tricyclic antidepressants have been very well researched and are commonly used to treat anxiety that occurs along with depression.

These are normally recommended as a single dose per day. Though these medicines take between four to twelve weeks to show results, these are known to be very effective for panic attack treatment and elevating depressed mood.

Like any other medication, tricyclic antidepressants also have some side effects that include insomnia, weight gain, constipation, blurred vision, loss of sex drive and increased sweating. Generally antidepressants should be administered at night since they are soporific.

The dosages are increased slowly so that the patient does not show extreme adverse reactions to the side effects. After the condition comes under control, the doctors generally recommend tapering off the medication slowly. This process is initiated six months to a year after the condition is brought under control.

The withdrawal process generally lasts from two to three weeks. Some of the well-known tricyclic antidepressants are Imipramine, Desipramine, Nortriptylineclomipramine, Doxepin and Amitriptyline. The other antidepressants used to treat anxiety disorders are Vanlafaxine-XR and Trazodone. These have similar side effects as the tricyclic antidepressants and the dosages vary depending on the individual and his specific condition.

Since these medications have side effects associated with them and can also be habit forming, it is important that these be taken only under medical supervision.