Anxiety is a natural emotion that helps a person react appropriately to situations that cause stress and discomfort when regulated by the body and brain. For some people, anxiety becomes uncontrollable and interferes with daily life. That’s when treatment with anxiety medications may help. Our team at Serenity House Detox & Recovery Houston can offer help with medications as well as psychotherapy. To learn more about our services, please contact our team today at 866.516.8356.
What Are Common Anxiety Medications?
For many, medication is the first line of treatment for uncontrolled anxiety. Anxiety medications can be safe to use when a person follows the prescription correctly. Some of the most common medicines include:
- Benzodiazepines: These drugs include alprazolam (Xanax), chlordiazepoxide (Librium), and diazepam (Valium), among others. These drugs help muscles to relax and the mind to calm down. They work by targeting specific neurotransmitters in the brain. These medications can help with social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and panic disorder.
- Buspirone: This medication is often for short-term use, though it may benefit those who have suffered from anxiety chronically. The drug helps to regulate mood control in the brain.
- Antidepressants: Some people may need antidepressants to target specific neurotransmitters. These can help to improve anxiety symptoms. Some examples include escitalopram (Lexapro), fluoxetine (Prozac), and paroxetine (Paxil).
- Tricyclics: This type of drug works on most types of anxiety disorders, improving the regulation of thought processes. These medications include clomipramine (Anafranil) and imipramine (Tofranil).
- MAOIs: Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) are beneficial for anxiety, including panic disorders or social phobia. These medications work to regulate mood by controlling neurotransmitter communications. Examples include isocarboxazid (Marplan), selegiline (Emsam), and phenelzine (Nardil).
If you’ve used one or more of these medications before with ill effects, it’s vital to get help as soon as possible.
Getting the Right Anxiety Medications
After a formal diagnosis of anxiety disorder, it becomes possible for doctors to prescribe anxiety medications using the person’s symptoms, the severity of those symptoms, and other health complications a person has. It often takes several tries to determine which one is the right fit for you and provides the best overall control.
Anxiety medications are essential for overall mental health treatment. If you have uncontrolled anxiety, it can impact the quality of life, limit engagement with others, and cause depression to form. With treatment, you may be able to get back to living a life that you are happy in
Are Anxiety Medications Addictive?
Some anxiety medications can cause addiction. If appropriately used according to the doctor’s prescription, it is unlikely that addiction will occur. Some drugs, such as benzodiazepines, can be highly addictive if used outside of the doctor’s orders. Working closely with your doctor, you may be able to minimize the risk of this happening.
Finding Treatment at Serenity House Detox & Recovery Houston
If you think you have anxiety and an addiction to pain medications, our team can help. While we offer medication treatment as needed, we can also provide mental health treatment access through other methods. That can help to improve your symptoms as well. Some of the therapies we offer include:
- Individual therapy programs
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy
- Group therapy programs
- Yoga therapy programs
- Trauma therapy programs
We also provide detox from benzodiazepines and other prescription medications to ensure that they can recover fully from their condition.
Anxiety medications are necessary for many, but when using them becomes an addiction, turn to our team at Serenity House Detox & Recovery Houston. If you think you may have developed an addiction or you need help managing your anxiety disorder more fully, please call us at 866.516.8356 or connect with our team online.
