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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