QUESTION: With all the news cautioning against the use of drugs, is there any way you can still treat anxiety?
ANSWER: Anxiety is one of the most common psychological symptoms dealt with in clinical practice, and for this reason, alternate forms of treatment should be explored before drug therapy is used.
In cases of mild anxiety, many patients respond to meditation or exercise which can relieve some of the edginess they experience.
Relaxation techniques can also be quite helpful for patients who wish to learn them.
Anxious patients who suffer from insomnia can frequently find relief by trying to establish a regular sleeping pattern and by engaging in exercise early in the day. It is important to bear in mind, however, that anxiety can vary a great deal in intensity and treatment decisions must be based on the degree of stress and disability suffered by the patient.
In light of recent research, it is now believed that anxiety can sometimes be a biologically determined disorder.
Therefore, physicians feel less guilty than they did in the past about using drugs for its treatment.
During the past year, a new drug called buspirone has been introduced for anxiety treatment, and it offers some promising advantages over previously prescribed drugs.
To begin with, it is nonsedating and therefore does not interfere with the patient's ability to maintain normal functions.
Use of the drug also poses a very low potential for dependence or abuse.
There is no cross-tolerance or cross-dependence with alcohol, so it is unlikely to be abused by alcoholic or drug-dependent people, and even with prolonged use, no withdrawal reactions occur.
Therefore, as a drug option, buspirone seems to be a good choice. Like all drugs, however, busiprone does have a few minor disadvantages. The drug has a delayed onset of action, taking two to three weeks before it become effective.
For this reason, it should not be used for patients needing immediate relief for acute anxiety.
In addition, since some patients desire a sedative effect to help them sleep, buspirone's nonsedative formula seems lacking.
In such cases, benzodiazepines are usually prescribed.
They have been the antianxiety drugs of choice for the past 25 years and are still considered quite effective. In any case, when drug therapy is in order, it should always be used with discretion.
It is best to start with the lowest dose possible and increase as needed.
Once symptoms have been relieved to a tolerable degree, the drug should then be discontinued.
As your question implies, nondrug management of any disorder is usually preferable.
It is therefore our hope that as we continue to gain insight into the mechanisms that produce anxiety, we will eventually discover new and effective treatments.
The material contained here is "FOR INFORMATION ONLY" and should not replace the counsel and advice of your personal physician.
Promptly consulting your doctor is the best path to a quick and successful resolution of any medical problem.
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