Antidepressant medicines
These are commonly used to treat depression, but also help to reduce the symptoms of phobias, even if you are not depressed. They work by interfering with brain chemicals (neurotransmitters) such as serotonin which may be involved in causing anxiety symptoms.
- Antidepressants do not work straight away. It takes 2-4 weeks before their effect builds up. A common problem is that some people stop the medicine after a week or so as they feel that it is doing no good. You need to give it time. It is best to persevere if you are prescribed an antidepressant medicine.
- Antidepressants are not tranquillisers, and are not usually addictive.
- There are several types of antidepressants, each with various 'pros and cons'. For example, they differ in their possible side-effects. However, SSRI antidepressants (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) are the ones most commonly used for anxiety disorders.
- Note: after first starting an antidepressant, in some people anxiety symptoms become worse for a few days before they start to improve.
A combination of cognitive-behaviour therapy and an SSRI antidepressant may work better in some cases than either treatment alone.
Benzodiazepines such as diazepam
These medicines are sometimes called 'minor tranquilisers'. They work well to ease symptoms of anxiety. The problem is, they are addictive and can lose their effect if you take them for more than a few weeks. They may also make you drowsy. Therefore, they are not a usual long-term treatment. However, a short course may be prescribed from time to time for a particularly bad spell of anxiety.
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