Why Take Antidepressants for Anxiety?

Printed in the Agoraphobia Newsletter on October 3, 2006

Since American Idol star, Clay Aiken told the public he is taking Paxil for panic attacks, I have seen some articles in newspapers and on the Internet referring to Paxil as an "anti-anxiety medication."

Despite how some journalists are mis-classifying it, Paxil is an antidepressant.
Today, popular antidepressants such as Paxil, Prozac, and Effexor are being prescribed as first-line treatments for anxiety disorders in addition to their use for depression.

This may leave some to wonder, "Aren't anxiety and depression two different things? Why would anyone take an antidepressant for anxiety?"

Well, for someone with agoraphobia experiencing panic attacks, antidepressants may actually be the most effective medication. When compared with benzodiazepines, antidepressants put a stop to panic attacks more directly (in addition to treating depression). In most cases (except for Effexor), they do not build dependence and have fewer and milder withdrawal symptoms.

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (or SSRIs) are the most popular antidepressants prescribed for anxiety, panic and agoraphobia. They reduce the symptoms of depression and panic by stabilizing the levels of serotonin in the brain. In the central nervous system, serotonin is believed to play an important role in of pain, pleasure, anxiety, panic, arousal, and sleep.
Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Celexa, Luvox, and Lexapro are the SSRIs most commonly prescribed for people with agoraphobia who are having panic attacks.

SSRIs have become popular partly for their effectiveness and partly because they don't have as many potential side effects as the antidepressants that were previously available. The side effects of SSRIs are manageable for most people and are usually limited to indigestion and/or a reduced sex drive.

One of the reasons that SSRIs have become so widely prescribed by doctors and psychiatrists is because you can't use them to kill yourself by overdose. Prior to SSRIs, one of the most common forms of suicide was to overdose on the very antidepressants that were meant to cure the depression and suicidal thinking.

There are at least three serious drawbacks with SSRIs to consider:

1) SSRIs are risky to combine with other drugs. For example, SSRIs can be lethal when taken with MAOIs.

2) Even though you can't use them to kill yourself by overdose, one possible side effect of SSRIs is an increase in suicidal thinking.
3) Popular SSRIs, such as Paxil and Zoloft, have potential side effects of sexual dysfunction and weight gain.

A close, increasingly popular cousin to SSRIs are SSNRIs. SSNRIs include Effexor and Serzone. The main advantages to SSNRIs over SSRIs are that they affect the brain’s levels of noreprenephrine in addition to serotonin and aren't as likely to produce sexual side effects. Effexor, however, is particularly hard to stop taking without going through some serious withdrawal symptoms.

If you are going to take an antidepressant to stop panic attacks, you should probably try one of the newer ones (SSRIs and SSNRIs). Since there are so many choices, you may have to shop around and try several before you find the one that works for you. Different drugs work differently on different people.

Paxil is the favorite of some doctors who claim it makes people a lot calmer than some of the other SSRIs. However, there are so many different SSRIs and SSNRIs that if you try one that doesn't work for you, you may keep experimenting under the care of a doctor until you find one that does.

Article Source: http://www.agoraphobia.net

Stephen Price is a recovered agoraphobic who started and informational Web site on agoraphobia, found on the Web at: www.agoraphobia.ws

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