What is Stress And Anxiety?

Stress is a state of body and mind when you are overloaded with emotions and feelings that causes depression and anxiety. Overburdened with work and negative emotions can cause stress. Anxiety is a feeling of helplessness and fear caused due to depression and stress. Stress could lead to a lot of health ailments like high blood pressure, heart attack, brain stroke, and more. There are cases where stress and anxiety have led to suicides. So, when you feel that you are stressed out or fatigued, take a break.

It is not easy to tackle stress and anxiety through medications. There is no one specific drug or medication that will help you relieve from stress. There are a wide variety of medical treatments for stress and anxiety and the doctors will prescribe a range of medications to address all stress related symptoms. There are sedatives, antidepressants, beta-blockers that help people come out of stress. You need to take just the prescribed amount as most of these medicines have side effects that cause health risks. Stress medications are also addictive and can cause serious behavioural changes.

Read More About : How To Tackle Stress And Anxiety Without Medicines

Medications for Stress

Sedative medications are the most commonly prescribed for relieving stress. It slows down the central nervous system that causes a sense of relaxation, reduces stress and anxiety. Sedatives calm our mind, tension and soothe us to sleep. Always be careful about the dosage as it has side effects like slurred speech, impaired ability to walk, slow reflexes, and poor judgement. It is a common issue where people tend to overdose on sedatives and bring about potential lethal effects.

Some of the most commonly prescribed groups of drugs are benzodiazepines, antihistamines, glutethimide, methyprylon, and ethchlorvynol. Benzodiazepines have relatively low lethal potential and are safe to prescribe. It creates a calming effect by activating GABA, which is a natural neurotransmitter. Beta blockers are used to control high blood pressure and also used to treat certain heart disorders. It can also bring down stress levels. The drug can block the action of neurotransmitters and hormones in the arteries and heart causing the arteries to widen and slow down the heart. Beta blockers can cause tiredness, sleep disturbances and cold hands and feet. Alcohol is also a good sedative. Wine, beer and liquor with active alcohol can be consumed in moderate amounts to relieve stress.

Medication For Anxiety

Bupropion or BuSpar are anti-anxiety drugs that are used to treat physical symptoms of anxiety. It can be dizziness, bodily tension, racing heartbeat and more. This is prescribed as a short term treatment for anxiety where the drug is not used for more than four times a week. One must not take BuSpar within fourteen days after using inhibitors, rasagiline, selegiline, and tranylcypromine that are used to treat depressive symptoms. It may cause serious and life threatening effects. Another disadvantage is that it takes one to three weeks before people experience any change in their symptoms.

Antidepressants also have anti anxiety properties and in many cases can be used to treat stress as well. A group of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are the most commonly prescribed antidepressants for anxiety and stress. SSRI drugs include Lexapro, Prozac and Paxil. These medicines work at the neuron level of the brain. SSRI drugs ensure there are increased levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter which plays an important role in regulating our mood and decreasing anxiety. These drugs are not addictive but it can cause dizziness, sleep disturbances, dry mouth and nausea. There are nutritional supplements that can be used to reduce stress and anxiety. This includes kava, valerian, chamomile, oats, passion flower and more.