In our busy lives it's very easy to ignore any situation that's unpleasant or even uncomfortable. However what should you do if suddenly you become anxious without any known cause? There are people who become housebound due to their fear of being in crowded places or even open places where they might become vulnerable to the terror of panic attacks. It's for situations like these, that anti anxiety medication is prescribed by doctors.



As there's a large amount of anti anxiety medication available you might think that any one of these will be suitable to reduce your feelings of anxiety. However, even though many of these anti anxiety medications will work to a degree, certain types of medications will work best with the particular mental disorder that closely matches their chemical criteria.

For instance Benzodiazepine is an anti anxiety medication that has an almost instant reaction in the body. You can take this medication 30 to 60 minutes before going into a stressful situation. For people who have acute but infrequent anxiety attacks Benzodiazepine is the best anti anxiety medication to take. However due to it's addictive nature it's best not to use Benzodiazepines for long term usage. The major side effect of prolonged use is that of seizures should you stop taking the medication abruptly.

Another type of anti anxiety medication used is that of SSRIs or serotonin-specific reuptake inhibitors. These belong in the class of antidepressant drugs. These SSRIs are very popular due to their low addiction levels, their mild side effects and the fact that they can bring down the feelings of acute anxiety. SSRIs work by maximizing the natural levels of serotonin in the brain.

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that can affect your moods. By taking an anti anxiety medication like Paxil, serotonin is inhibited from being reabsorbed by the body. Therefore more serotonin is produced to be used when it is necessary. The side effects are mild ranging from a dry mouth to sleepiness. If you desire quick results you shouldn't take any SSRIs as they need 2 to 6 weeks to infiltrate your system before you would notice any significant improvement.

There's also the anti anxiety medication dopamine agonists, which increases the levels of dopamine in the brain. Like SSRIs dopamine agonists take a few weeks to show relief from anxiety. The side effects of this class of drugs, includes insomnia and extreme excitedness amongst others. The last type of anti anxiety medication that is currently being used is that of Buspar. This drug is a mild anti anxiety medication that has little to no reporting of addiction usage. Like SSRIs and dopamine agonists discussed earlier, Buspar takes a while for its medical properties to take effect.

As with anything else these medications can help you to restore some semblance of normality to your life, but as with all drugs and treatments you should first talk with a trained medical practitioner who can help you in choosing the best anti anxiety medication for you.