Which Anti Anxiety Medication Is Not Addictive

What Are The Treatments For Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Medication for Anxiety

Medication is useful for alleviating the symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder and is often prescribed in conjunction with other therapies. Some types of anxiety drugs can be habit-forming and are usually prescribed on a short-term or as-needed basis.

Different anxiety disorders have different medication regimens. Some are preventive and some are designed to cure the problem.

Antidepressants, particularly the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors , are widely used to treat and prevent a variety of anxiety disorders. Examples of SSRIs that are commonly used to treat chronic anxiety include citalopram , escitalopram , fluoxetine , paroxetine , and sertraline . The antidepressantsduloxetine and venlafaxine , SNRIs which act on the brain chemicals serotonin and norephinephrine, and some of the tricyclic antidepressants like imipramine , may also help. Novel antidepressants such as mirtazepine are also prescribed at times.Ã

Another anti-anxiety drug is busprirone . It has fewer side effects than the benzodiazepines and is not associated with dependence. Buspar, however, can have its own side effects and may not always be as effective when a person has taken benzodiazepines in the past.

Therapy for Anxiety

Psychotherapy, with or without medication, is often considered a fundamental aspect of treatment for generalized anxiety disorder.

Lifestyle Modifications to Alleviate Anxiety

Show Sources

Seek Dual Diagnosis Treatment At Washburn House

All too often, anxiety and substance use go hand in hand. If youre struggling with both, its important to seek treatment at a dual diagnosis treatment center that can help you manage both disorders. At Washburn House, we offer a range of evidence-based treatment services that are designed to help you heal from both anxiety and addiction. Well work with you to create a treatment plan that addresses your unique challenges. Our dual diagnosis treatment center can treat a range of substance use disorders, including:

• Alcohol addiction

Which Benzodiazepines Are Used For Anxiety

They can also be used with antidepressants initially while antidepressants take time to work.

Theyre a powerful tool, says Duckworth, but you have to be really smart about their use.

• Light-headedness
• Trouble sleeping

Beta-blockers can be very helpful but in a limited way, says Dr. Salcedo. They are most commonly used for performance anxiety. They are really good for the physical symptoms such as heart racing, sweating, shakiness, but they work less well for the anxious thoughts that might be causing the symptoms.

Additional reporting by Carlene Bauer.

Also Check: How To Convince An Addict To Go To Rehab

Alternatives To Benzodiazepines For Anxiety: What Works

For millions of Americans living with anxiety disorders, medication management is part of their treatment plan. And for years, benzodiazepines for anxiety have been a popular treatment option. But their risk for addiction is significant, and many people with anxiety already struggle with addiction to benzodiazepines. For this reason, alternatives to benzodiazepines for anxiety are sometimes a key part of treatment.

So what are the best non-addictive anti-anxiety medications? And are benzodiazepines for anxiety safe? Keep reading for answers to your questions about non-habit-forming anxiety medication.

Contents

Preliminary Assessment And Initial Management Strategies

2.1.

In evaluating patients with anxiety and/or sleep disorders health care providers should initially consider possible underlying medical causes, including hyperthyroidism and other endocrine illnesses, cardiac problems and other organ system dysfunctions. Medicine use and medicine or substances withdrawal can cause anxiety and insomnia. If medical disorders, medicine use or withdrawal is a plausible reason for anxiety, the underlying cause should be removed or treated.

2.2.

If medical disorders, medicine use or withdrawal is not a plausible reason for anxiety or insomnia, health care providers might investigate whether major depression or other psychiatric disorders are present. If another psychiatric disorder is present, health care providers should treat that disorder first.

2.3.

In individuals with sleep disorders, if no psychiatric comorbidities are present, health care providers may suggest educational interventions, such as going to bed at the same time, reserving bed for sleep, reducing caffeine intake and avoiding strenuous exercise or mental activities near bedtime.

2.4.

In individuals with anxiety disorders, if no psychiatric comorbidities are present, health care providers may explain to the patient that chest pain, indigestion, sweating, and sexual dysfunction are symptoms of anxiety.

Donât Miss: Dartmouth Hitchcock Addiction Treatment Program

Recommended Reading: How To Support Recovering Addict

Here Are Common Holistic Treatments Used To Safely And Effectively Combat Symptoms Of Anxiety:

Intensive psychotherapy There are many different forms of psychotherapy that have been shown to help the symptoms of anxiety, including:

Finding a therapist that you connect with and that specifically focuses on these forms of psychotherapy can be extremely beneficial in helping you to work through your anxiety. Learning emotional tools in therapy can be far more sustainable and long-lasting than taking a habit-forming anxiety medication.

Selective Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors For Anxiety

SNRIs work the same way as SSRIs, but they block the reuptake of both serotonin norepinephrine. While these are typically prescribed for depressive disorders, they may also be used to treat anxiety in some cases, although SSRIs are usually the first choice for health care providers. For this reason, SNRIs are typically prescribed after SSRIs have been proven ineffective for an individual.

Read Also: Is Nicotine Addictive By Itself

Also Check: Why Are Benzos So Addictive

Drug Interactions And Overdose

While benzodiazepines are relatively safe when taken only occasionally and in small doses, they can be dangerous and even deadly when combined with other central nervous system depressants. Always talk to your doctor or pharmacist before combining medications.

Dont drink on benzodiazepines. When mixed with alcohol, benzodiazepines can lead to fatal overdose.

Dont mix with painkillers or sleeping pills. Taking benzodiazepines with prescription pain or sleeping pills can also lead to fatal overdose.

Antihistamines amplify their effects. Antihistaminesfound in many over-the-counter sleep, cold, and allergy medicinesare sedating on their own. Be cautious when mixing with benzodiazepines to avoid over-sedation.

Be cautious when combining with antidepressants. SSRIs such as Prozac and Zoloft can heighten benzodiazepine toxicity. You may need to adjust your dose accordingly.

Paradoxical effects of benzodiazepines

The benzodiazepines work because they slow down the nervous system. But sometimes, for reasons that arent well understood, they have the opposite effect. Paradoxical reactions are most common in children, the elderly, and people with developmental disabilities. They include:

• Increased anxiety, irritability, agitation, aggression, and rage
• Mania, impulsive behavior, and hallucinations

You May Like: How Many People Are Addicted To Drugs In America

How Do Snris And Ssris Work

Each of these drugs influences serotonin and norepinephrine in the brain, both of which impact how and when the body experiences pain signals. Much like anticonvulsants, they can reduce the perceived severity of pain so you can better focus on everyday tasks. They may also reduce the risk of chronic pain-associated depression, too.

Don’t Miss: Can You Get Addicted To Xanax

How Anxiety Medication Works

Controlled medications for anxiety, such as benzodiazepines, work by binding to the brains GABA receptors. This action makes you feel calm and helps reduce nervousness and muscle spasms.

Benzodiazepines are considered controlled substances because the brain and body quickly build up a tolerance, requiring larger doses to get the same effect. When you use these medications regularly, it teaches your body to depend on outside means to relax. So when you dont take the drug, you may become restless, tense, and irritable.

Non-controlled medications affect the brain in a different way. For instance, SSRIs act slowly on the serotonin system while SRNIs act on both serotonin and norepinephrine. These medications are safer for long-term use, whereas benzodiazepines become less effective over time.

Talk Therapy Along With Non Addictive Anti Anxiety Medications

Anxiety can sometimes build because we are shoving our feelings about things happening in our lives. These collected emotions build up in the mind and body, producing an increasing sense of anxiety. By visiting regular sessions with a therapist, we can unload some of our emotions, so they dont build up and become overwhelming.

Recommended Reading: Counseling For Addiction And Recovery

Treating Anxiety & Benzodiazepine Dependence

Benzodiazepines can help reduce symptoms of anxiety, such as panic attacks, in the short-term. However, they can damage your health in the long-term. If you are struggling with chronic anxiety, you may want to look at other long-term treatments for your mental health.

You may also be dealing with benzodiazepine withdrawal if youve taken benzos for any amount of time. A professional treatment program can help you manage your withdrawal while you try to stop taking benzos.

To find out if non-addictive anxiety medications are right for you, or to explore other treatment options, contact us today or talk to your healthcare professional.

©2022 Ark National Holdings, LLC. | All Rights Reserved.

This page does not provide medical advice.

Side Effects Of Anxiety Medication

Every anxiety medication will come with a particular list of possible side effects that you should discuss with your physician before beginning treatment. In general, however, the most common side effects of addictive anxiety medications are fatigue, sleepiness, and a dampening or slowing-down of mental functioning.

You May Like: Can Food Be An Addiction

Looking For A Place To Start

Reach out to a treatment provider for free today.

Make a Call

• More from Jeffrey Juergens

Reviewed by Certified Addiction Professional: April 17, 2019

Theresa Parisi

• Theresa Parisi is a Certified Addiction Professional , Certified Behavioral Health Case Manager , and International Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor with over 12 years of experience in the addiction treatment field.

• More from Theresa Parisi

Mental Health Treatment Center In Ma

Anxiety is a frustrating and sometimes scary condition to experience. Fortunately, theres plenty of help available. The best course of treatment for you may involve non-addictive anxiety medication, therapy, or both. You might also need to try a few non-addictive anxiety medications before finding what works best for you. Dont be afraid to talk to your doctor about your concerns regarding addiction. They will work with you to create a treatment plan thats effective and provides you with much-needed peace of mind.

For instance, programs at Washburn House for mental health disorders include:

• Dual diagnosis treatment in MA
• Cognitive-behavioral therapy in MA
• Yoga therapy in Worcester, MA

Recommended Reading: How To Overcome An Alcohol Addiction

Drug Dependence And Withdrawal

When taken regularly, benzodiazepines lead to physical dependence and tolerance, with increasingly larger doses needed to get the same anxiety relief as before. This happens quicklyusually within a couple of months, but sometimes in as little as a few weeks.

If you abruptly stop taking your medication, you may experience severe withdrawal symptoms such as:

• Increased anxiety, restlessness, shaking.
• Depression, confusion, panic attacks.
• Pounding heart, sweating, and in severe cases, seizure.

Many people mistake withdrawal symptoms for a return of their original anxiety condition, making them think they need to restart the medication. Gradually tapering off the drug will help minimize the withdrawal reaction.

Controlled Substances Vs Non

When we talk about non-controlled medications, were referring to medications that do not carry the risk of dependence or addiction according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration .

Benzodiazepines, such as Xanax and Valium, are the oldest and most well-known controlled substances for anxiety. While they have the advantage of working very quickly, they carry the risk of dependence, sedation, and tolerance buildup.

Because of this, its important for people with anxiety to have alternatives to benzodiazepines.

Today, the first-line medications for anxiety are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors .

One of the core differences between SSRIs and SNRIs compared to Benzodiazepines is that the former substances actually treat the source of the anxiety, whereas the latter substance only treats the symptoms.

Also Check: Addiction To Social Media How To Overcome It

Other Treatments For Anxiety

Theres no one-size-fits-all best anxiety medication for everyone. Your healthcare provider will look at your symptoms, their severity and a range of other factors before selecting a medication that suits your unique needs.

If you have severe anxiety, medication may be helpful especially as a short-term treatment. But while non-addictive anxiety medication may be an appealing option due to the relief it can provide for symptoms, there are other treatments to consider.

Therapy is a common treatment for anxiety, from cognitive behavioral therapy to exposure therapy used to treat anxiety disorders. CBT can be an especially effective long-term treatment for anxiety.

Other effective ways to reduce anxiety symptoms include:

Psychological Therapies For Gad

If you have been diagnosed with GAD, youâll usually be advised to try psychological treatment before youâre prescribed medication.

You can get psychological therapies like cognitive behavioural therapy and applied relaxation on the NHS.

You can refer yourself directly to an NHS psychological therapies service without a referral from a GP.

Or your GP can refer you if you prefer.

You May Like: How To Beat Food Addiction

Strategies To Soothe Anxious Uncertainty

Nonetheless, when used appropriately, benzodiazepines can play an important role in the treatment of an anxiety disorder. For example, they are sometimes used in combination with an SSRI for the first few weeks of treatment before the SSRI reaches maximum efficacy. Long-term treatment with a benzodiazepine may be appropriate for some individuals with anxiety but is not considered to be first-line treatment and should only be used in this way under the care of a psychiatrist.

Buspirone. Buspar is a medication sometimes used to treat anxiety. Like SSRIs, buspirone works by influencing the neurons which use serotonin to communicate, but unlike SSRIs, which increase the amount of serotonin available to all serotonin receptors, buspirone affects only one specific subtype of serotonin receptor. An advantage of this selectivity is that buspirone does not cause the sexual side effects sometimes associated with SSRIs. Like SSRIs and SNRIs, buspirone may take 4-to-6 weeks to reach maximum efficacy.

Gabapentin. Neurontin is primarily used to treat seizures and nerve pain but is also used with some frequency by psychiatrists to treat anxiety. Like hydroxyzine, gabapentin works quickly and without many of the problems associated with benzodiazepines. However, there may be a withdrawal syndrome associated with gabapentin and some patients experience significant drowsiness. Like SSRIs, gabapentin may also be associated with an increased risk of suicide.

What Is A Safe Anxiety Medicine

It’s also difficult to discuss the safety of antidepressants for anxiety and other anxiety medicines because the word “safe” means different things to different people. The good thing about most anxiety medications is that none of them appear to have fatal side effects. All medications can have some exceedingly rare side effects that may not be known and allergies to medications can be very dangerous, but antidepressants, benzodiazepines, and others are highly unlikely to cause any severe or possibly fatal side effects. You can talk to your pharmacist if you’re worried.

But anxiety medicines can cause two distinct types of side effects:

Physical side effects are those that cause some discomforts that affect the body, rather than the mind. For example, a class of drugs known as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors may cause:

• Cloudy Thinking
• Digestion Issues

These side effects may be disruptive enough to affect your well-being. Benzodiazepines may also cause digestion issues and nausea, and have other side effects that include:

• Lack of Coordination

In some cases, the side effects can be severe enough that the person needs to stop taking the medication right away. They also may cause dependency and withdrawal symptoms if you stop taking the medications, and in some cases, they may lose their effects over time as a result of tolerance.

• Most Benzodiazepines

Don’t Miss: Addiction And Mental Health Statistics

Searching For An Accredited Drug And Alcohol Rehab Centers In Near You

Even if you have failed previously and relapsed, or are in the middle of a difficult crisis, we stand ready to support you. Our trusted behavioral health specialists will not give up on you. When you feel ready or just want someone to speak to about therapy alternatives to change your life call us. Even if we cannot assist you, we will lead you to wherever you can get support. There is no obligation. Call our hotline today.

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors For Anxiety

SSRIs are commonly used to treat both depression and anxiety, and they work by helping balance out the chemistry in an individuals brain. Serotonin is a chemical messenger in the brain that allows brain nerve cells to communicate, which helps transmit certain emotions. By stopping the brain from reabsorbing serotonin, there is more of the chemical available, which can have a calming effect on moods and minimize anxiety symptoms.

Some of the most common SSRIs for anxiety include:

You May Like: How To Beat Opiate Addiction

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors

As the name suggests, SSRIs are a class of anxiety drugs that work by increasing serotonin secretion in the brain. These drugs were initially meant to treat depression before it was discovered that they are just as effective at treating anxiety. Serotonin is a mood-boosting and feel-good hormone. By increasing the production of this hormone, SSRIs help to suppress anxiety symptoms. These drugs are particularly effective when it comes to treating Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder . Since they are non-narcotic and non-addictive, SSRIs offer a safe treatment option to anxiety disorder patients since they dont have to worry about any harmful side effects of the drugs. Most mental health practitioners prescribe SSRIs as the first-line pharmaceutical treatment option for anxiety disorders.

Some of the most common SSRIs used for anxiety disorders include:

Also Check: How To Stop Symptoms Of Anxiety

Coping Techniques To Manage Anxiety At Home

Although non-addictive anxiety medication remains the standard option for the treatment of anxiety, some evidence-based self-coping skills can accelerate the recovery process, these include

• Practicing progressive relaxation techniques
• Guided meditation
• Exercising daily for 30 minutes can release particular chemical substances called endorphins, which help to boost mood
• Listening to music is also known to relieve anxiety
• Perform square breathing: breath in for 5 seconds next, hold the breath for 5 seconds. Finally, breathe out for 5 seconds. Pause for some time and repeat.

Recommended Reading: How To Break Carb Addiction