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More People Are Taking Drugs for Anxiety and Insomnia, and Doctors Are Worried

The most popular anti-anxiety medications are benzodiazepines that include Valium, Xanax, Ativan and Klonopin. These drugs enhance the activity of the central nervous system’s main inhibitory neurotransmitter, GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid). GABA’s primary function is to reduce the activity of neurons. “They are powerful, and they are powerfully attractive in that they work instantly,” says James Potash, director of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine. “You take Ativan, and 30 minutes later you are feeling dramatically less anxious.” Sleep medications like Lunesta and Ambien are similar to the benzodiazepines in that they also alter the activity of GABA. The neurotransmitter…

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 Daily meditation may work as well as a popular drug to calm anxiety, study finds

For the first time, scientists compared patients who took an intensive eight-week mindfulness meditation program to patients who took escitalopram, the generic name of the widely-prescribed and well-studied anxiety drug Lexapro. They found that both interventions worked equally well in reducing debilitating anxiety symptoms. (Talk therapy, another effective treatment for anxiety for some people, was not addressed in this study.)

 Risks Of Popular Anxiety Drugs Often Overshadowed

The drugs first burst onto the scene in the 1950s and '60s and quickly became known as "mother's little helper," the mild tranquilizer that could soothe frazzled housewives' nerves. More than four decades later, benzos — including Valium, Xanax, Klonopin and Ativan — are used to treat anxiety, mood disorders and insomnia.

Articles of Interest

50 years of hurdles and hope in anxiolytic drug discovery

Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent group of psychiatric diseases, and have high personal and societal costs. The search for novel pharmacological treatments for these conditions is driven by the growing medical need to improve on the effectiveness and the side effect profile of existing drugs. A huge volume of data has been generated by anxiolytic drug discovery studies, which has led to the progression of numerous new molecules into clinical trials.

A Host of Anxiety Drugs, Begat by Valium

One of the earliest benzodiazepines, Valium was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1963 as a treatment for anxiety, and it would become not only the country's best-selling drug, but an American cultural icon. Referred to knowingly in Woody Allen movies, enshrined as "Mother's Little Helper" in the Rolling Stones song, condemned as poisonous in best-selling books, Valium reached the height of its popularity in 1978, a year when Americans consumed 2.3 billion of the little yellow pills.

Alzheimer’s Linked to Sleeping Pills and Anti-Anxiety Drugs

Previous studies have linked the drugs to memory and cognitive problems, but primarily in those taking them short term. But in the current study, in which the scientists, led by Sophie Billioti de Gage, a PhD student at INSERM, University of Bordeaux, followed the participants for six years, the connection to dementia appeared strong. The interaction remained even after the scientists adjusted for potential confounding effect on Alzheimer’s rates such as blood pressure, heart disease, depression and insomnia.

Anxiety Medication: Types, Side Effects And More

Anxiety medication broadly refers to various classes of medications that health care providers may prescribe to help relieve the symptoms of an anxiety disorder. The most commonly used anxiety medications are antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications, the latter of which are typically only taken for a brief period of time.

Anxiolytics and Sedative-Hypnotics Toxicity

Anxiolytics are a class of medications aimed at treating patients with panic disorders, generalized anxiety, and various other uses. Sedatives(hypnotics) are a class of drugs used in different situations ranging from treating insomnia to treating someone connected to a mechanical ventilator.

Flushing Your Anti-Anxiety Pills Down the Toilet Could Affect the Behavior of Wild Fish

A study shows that wild perch are less fearful, eat faster and are more anti-social when exposed to a common pharmaceutical pollutant.

Legal anti-anxiety drugs like Xanax are killing thousands of Americans every year

As Americans get more and more benzos (like Xanax and Valium), they're also dying at greater rates from overdoses linked to the drugs.

Sedative, Hypnotic or Anxiolytic Drug Use Disorder

Regular use of these drugs often leads to "drug tolerance." That is, the body adjusts to them and it takes a higher and higher dose to achieve the desired effect. Dependence also can develop, meaning withdrawal symptoms will occur if the drug is suddenly stopped.

Sedative, Hypnotic, and Anxiolytic-Related Disorders

This class of substances includes all prescription sleeping medications and almost all prescription anti-anxiety medications (tranquilizers).

Self-Care Didn’t Work for My Anxiety—Medicine Did

After the pants-crying incident, I made the decision to go back to my doctor and start therapy. And to get back on antidepressants. Meds aren't a quick-fix solution either; rather they're part of a program that lets me get out of bed with the same energy anyone else would each morning. With the help of therapy, I’m trying to work through my issues of crippling self-doubt.

Shortage of Anxiety Drug Leaves Patients Scrambling

Some of the worst shortages are of generic, or non-brand-name, drugs like buspirone, whose prices have been driven so low that many manufacturers say they cannot turn a profit on them.

Should Pregnant Women Take Anti-Anxiety Medication? Some Have No Choice.

The relentless focus on fetal purity was one of the hardest things I faced during my already tough pregnancy.

Surviving Anxiety

I've tried therapy, drugs, and booze. Here’s how I came to terms with the nation's most common mental illness.

Women and young adults propel huge rise in use of anti-anxiety drugs

A key reason more women are prescribed drugs for anxiety than men is that “women are more comfortable seeking help for mental health conditions”.