List of Anxiety Medications: Classifications and Categories
There are a number of anti-anxiety medications available, and they can be classified into several different categories of drugs. Not all medications work equally well for all people, so it may take a few tries and good guidance from a medical professional to find a medication or combination of medications that works well to control your anxiety. Commonly prescribed anxiety medications are as follows;
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs)
These are commonly prescribed antidepressants that are also used to treat anxiety disorders such as panic disorder, OCD, PTSD, and social phobia:
- Fluoxetine (Prozac®)
- Sertraline (Zoloft®)
- Paroxetine (Paxil®)
- Citalopram (Celexa®)
- Escitalopram (Lexapro®)
Serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs)
A class of antidepressants commonly prescribed to treat generalized anxiety disorder (GAD):
- Venlafaxine (Effexor®)
- Duloxetine (Cymbalta®)
Benzodiazepines
Most often prescribed for short-term relief of panic disorder, phobias, and generalized anxiety:
- Alprazolam (Xanax®)
- Clonazepam (Klonopin®)
- Diazepam (Valium®)
- Lorazepam (Ativan®)
- Oxazepam (Serax®)
- Chlordiazepoxide (Librium®)
Tricyclic Antidepressants
Used to treat people with both anxiety and depression:
- Imipramine (Tofranil®) - panic disorder and GAD
- Clomipramine (Anafranil®) - OCD
- Desipramine (Norpramin®)
- Nortriptyline (Aventyl®, Pamelor®)
- Amitriptyline (Elavil®)
- Doxepin (Sinequan®)
- Maprotiline (Ludiomil®)
- Protriptyline (Vivactil®)
- Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs)
Type of antidepressant sometimes prescribed to treat anxiety disorders:
- Phenelzine (Nardil®)
- Tranylcypromine (Parnate®)
- Isocaroxazid (Marplan®)
Beta Blockers
Most often prescribed for social phobia/anxiety; beta blockers treat physical symptoms of anxiety:
- Propranolol (Inderal®)
- Atenolol (Tenormin®)
Other
- Buspirone (BuSpar®) - often compared to benzodiazepines, but a different type of medication used to treat GAD
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