There are many prescription medications on the market that claim to be able to cure panic and anxiety attacks. But do they work? What I say goes against many of the claims made by multi-billion dollar drugs industry.
The truth is that drugs are not an effective treatment, let alone cure, panic attacks or generalized anxiety. In fact, medications often worsen anxiety and panic and may cause suicidal ideation, increases in the feelings of anxiety and a host of other side effects and withdrawal symptoms.
David Burns, one of the therapists in the field of cognitive behavioral (CBT) therapy, has written about the ineffectiveness of medications, as many other leading therapists and experts in the field of anxiety disorders. You have to understand that there are two main kinds of medications that are commonly used to treat anxiety: inhibitor of the reuptake of serotonin (SSRIS) and benzodiazepenes ("benzos"). Both have different problems. Let's start with SSRIS.
SSRIS are not more effective than a placebo (i.e., a pill with no active) in the treatment of mild depression and show similar effects in the treatment of anxiety.
There are many types and brands of behalf of SSRI's which include:
Citalopram (Celexa, Cipramil, Cipram, Dalsan, recital, Emocal, Sepram, Seropram, Citox, Cital), dapoxetine (Priligy), escitalopram (Lexapro, Cipralex, Seroplex, Esertia), fluoxetine (Prozac, Fontex, Seromex, Seronil, Sarafem, Ladose, Motivest, Fluctin (EUR), Fluox (NZ), depress (UZB), Lovan (AUS)), fluvoxamine (Luvox, Fevarin, Faverin, Dumyrox, Favoxil, Movox), indalpin (Upstene) (discontinued), paroxetin (Paxil paroxetine, Sereupin, Aropax, Deroxat, Divarius, Rexetin, Xetanor, Paroxat, Loxamine), (Zoloft, Lustral, Serlain, Asentra), sertralin vilazodone (Viibyrd), zimelidine (Zelmid, Normud) (discontinued)
David Burns argued in his excellent book when panic attacks that SSRIS are essentially the same as a placebo. The placebo effect is when the actual recovery process fuels the optimism of the patient improved. This means that the only benefit of SSRI comes from the fact that people thought that the pill does better. St. John's wort or not will be better than Zoloft (a common SSRIS). About a third of patients who took placebos also were "cured". This was caused by a belief in recovery that accompanied to take the pill by an accredited doctor.
In some studies, SSRI exceed a placebo, but this could very well be due to the little ethical test methods. As David Burns notes:
"the patients also is information that placebo is completely inert, so if they receive placebo, will not have absolutely no side effects or effects of any kind." Instead, they say that, if they receive the antidepressant, should expect some side effects such as upset stomach, diarrhea, nervousness, sleep problems or loss of sexual drive. Once you start the study, patients who suffer side effects tend to conclude that it is taking the antidepressant. "On the other hand, patients who do not suffer side effects tend to conclude that they are in the placebo group."
What this means is that these studies are not truly double-blind. In other words, medical companies are using intentionally biased test methods and rigour in order to increase the apparent "effectiveness" of drugs in the study.
They are doing because literally billions of dollars are at stake. The drug industry is largely, although not entirely, a damaged sector. The money is more important than the clinical objectivity.
Benzodiazapenes, also known as "benzos" is another important class of the medications used. These drugs achieve rapid reductions in anxiety and tend to be effective in the short term. The problem is that be addictive, induce withdrawal and not cure anxiety once they have left. Often anxiety returns as strong as never before.
They ativan (lorazepam) and Xanax (alprazolam) are two of the most popular benzodiazepines. Others include Librium (chlordiazepoxide), Tranxene (clorazepate), Valium (diazepam), Paxipam (halazepam), Serax (oxazepam), Centrax (prazepam) and Doral (quazepam), clorazepate, diazepam and Klonopin (clonazepam).
I have personally experienced the effects of Ativan after rushing to the hospital in a panic attack. After tests in my heart, the doctors told me that it was healthy and injected Ativan in my arm. Then they gave me a small bottle of Ativan pills. The sedative effect of lorazepam, without a doubt, got rid of my anxiety in the short term, but finally did nothing when I stopped using it. I continued to experience panic attacks at almost every day.
It was not until I studied the psychotherapeutic treatment of disorders of anxiety that finally cured my panic, phobias, agoraphobia, TOC, general anxiety, and depression. Ultimately, how to remove yourself from anxiety and panic does not lie in finding some "magic pill", but to change their thinking, emotional expression, adopting a healthy lifestyle and make other changes in their thinking and their habits.
Harris Harrington is a former anxiety and panic is suffering. He has studied psychology at the University of California, Berkeley and has carried out extensive research in generalized anxiety disorder, OCD, panic and phobias. He is the creator of the Panic Plan, a nine-hour online video program intended to eliminate panic and anxiety disorder and panic allowing patients to recovery complete.
You can find more information about the program, as well as other free articles and videos on http://panicplanprogram.com/.
Article source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Harris_Harrington
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