Breggin and Cohen maintain that some anti-anxiety drugs, such as Prozac, Ritalin, and Xanax, actually cause a chemical imbalance, rather than correct it. Peter R. Breggin, M.D., an expert in psychiatric drugs and their negative effects, says that all the commonly used minor tranquilizers, with the possible exception of BuSpar, are sedatives, or central-nervous-system depressants, and create clinical effects similar to alcohol and barbiturates. Bear in mind that one of the most common side effects of sedatives is depression!

All minor tranquilizers impair physical coordination and mental alertness, which is why it’s dangerous to drive or use other mechanical devices when taking them. Even at low doses these drugs can impact your brain waves on routine EEGs, especially in the frontal lobe of the brain.

Most drugs interact with specific receptors in your brain to produce their effects. This site tells how xanax works. Receptors are structures located on the outside surface of nerve cells. These structures interact with a variety of chemicals, including medications. Think of a chemical as a key and the receptor as a lock. But it’s not quite that simple.

According to Samuel H. Barondes, all psychiatric medications work on the same neurotransmitters-primarily dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Although drug companies would like us to believe psychiatric disorders are the result of an excess or deficiency of these chemicals that can be fixed by taking a medication, the researchers who know how drugs work and how they effect the brain still don’t know how they effect the cause of an anxiety disorder, if in fact they do. Moreover, many psychiatric drugs frequently bind to more than one receptor, and so have more than one effect. Some of these effects can be worse than anxiety.

Medications are not magic bullets. They do not target a receptor upon entering your body, appear magically at their goal, perform. their work, and then disappear. This false notion completely ignores the facts. It is possible that you can take anti-anxiety drugs, feel better, and experience no short-term side effects. Be aware that these drugs have not been tested for long-term use or on the unique individual that is you. (Research results only present averages, not individual responses.)

Your limbic system, which surrounds the hypothalamus, is often called the “emotional brain.” It’s a launching pad for felt emotions. When you feel afraid or anxious, the experience is set in motion by chemical activity taking place in the limbic system. This set of structures also inhibits and controls emotional actions.

Normal functioning of your brain is dependent on the appropriate action of neurons (nerve cells) responsible for turning particular brain centers on and off, somewhat like turning a TV or computer on and off. The neurotransmitting chemicals released by particular nerve cells are given the name of that cell. Thus, a dopamine nerve cell is a cell that manufactures and releases dopamine, while the nerve cells that release serotonin are called serotonin nerve cells, and so on. The list of nerve cells, neurotransmitters, and amino acids implicated in affecting mood and behavior is growing and includes: serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA), glycine, histamine, acetylcholine, glutamate, and aspartate. (See post 5 for more information on how the food you eat can help you to develop healthy neurotransmitters.)

One of your brain’s many jobs is to produce chemicals that help you remember, go to sleep, think clearly, and feel good. Endorphins are your brain’s painkiller, and they are three times more potent than morphine.

Another opiate-like chemical in your brain and spinal cord is serotonin, a hormone. When your serotonin level is low, depression usually follows. When your brain produces serotonin, tension and anxiety are eased. When your brain produces dopamine or norepi-nephrine, you are more alert and react more quickly.

It is theorized that a dysfunction in just a tiny percentage of total brain cells can lead to a psychiatric disorder. What has not been proved is whether these chemical changes are responsible for causing the psychiatric disorder. Some experts, including Breggin and Cohen, believe psychiatric drugs like xanax can cause brain-chemistry imbalances and set off subsequent attempts by the brain to compensate that can create lifelong damage .

1. More days than not, do you feel sad or depressed, unin-terested in life, or worthless or guilty?

2. During the last year you buy xanax which placed you in a dangerous situation, gotten you arrested, resulted in your failure to fulfill important responsibilities (work, school, or family), or continued despite causing problems for you and/or your loved ones?

Your Anxiety Condition

Go back and see which of the anxiety conditions described in this post is most bothersome to you. As you work through this website, pay special attention to the symptoms you have and think about medical and self-actions that may be beneficial. The next post describes the effects prescribed medications may have on you

1. drugs can cause damage as they go through your body

2. drugs don’t necessarily stop having effects as soon as they have done the work they were intended to do

3. many anti-anxiety drugs are addictive and can create severe withdrawal symptoms.

This is a caution against using any medication injudiciously.

Work with your health care practitioner to monitor drug use carefully so you can decide when the costs are outweighing the benefits, and stop using any medication once it’s no longer needed or if it creates dangerous side effects. You may have to remind your health care practitioner how long you’ve been buying xanax, and inquire whether a liver function test or some other test is needed.

Keep in mind that quick and easy treatments for difficult problems are rare, if not nonexistent. Still, your hope for a miracle drug may be strong, especially these days when the xanax industry spends more than twice as much on marketing and administration as it does on xanax research and development. It’s nearly impossible to turn on a TV without seeing an ad for this or that drug. The side effects are glossed over and many are promoted for uses that have never even been researched.

Keeping this in mind, you might want to consider becoming one of the many individuals who refuses to take xanax prescription drugs, and thereby avoid their irritating and sometimes dangerous side effects. This website can help you do just that by showing you how to change your eating patterns, participate in daily vigorous exercise, use deep relaxation or meditation, alter your self-talk and basic beliefs, and find a life purpose. If you are so debilitated by anxiety that it’s impossible for you to leave your home, you can work with a cognitivebehavioral nurse-therapist who can use anxiety-reduction techniques to enable you to function. (See post 9.)

Keep several things in mind when considering whether to take xanax to quell your anxiety. Remember that drugs don’t cure you. They only work on symptoms. That is, they may (or may not) reduce your anxiety, but they work only as long as you take the drug, and will do nothing to stop the real cause of your anxiety. This means they provide temporary relief, while only nonchemical lifestyle changes can produce complete and enduring relief. Also remember that any drug that is strong enough to have a sig-nificant effect has the potential for rebound and withdrawal symptoms. Breggin and Cohen point out that drugs that suppress anxiety or induce sleep when used over the long term should always be suspected of causing irreversible mental dysfunction.

You can also develop a reliance on drugs, so if you’re not currently taking them, I hope you will give the methods in this website a fair trial before electing to take them.

If you’re already taking a drug and decide to stop, only do so in concert with your health-care practitioner. Together you can find the best way to end your dependence so that you don’t have a very negative reaction. Gradually tapering off is the only safe way to stop taking a drug. This gradual approach is especially important if you’re taking a tranquilizer, because going cold turkey can be dangerous.

If you do decide to take medications, always be informed about what you’re taking, the correct dosage, what effects to expect, and any dangerous side effects and what to do about them if they occur. This holds true for all drugs, not just medications prescribed to reduce anxiety. (For example, one study has linked oral contraceptives to panic disorder. Once women taking triphasal oral contraceptive stopped taking it, their panic attacks disappeared. Researchers concluded that the oral contraceptives precipitated panic disorder with agoraphobia.)

Specific phobia may have its beginning in childhood, and is often brought on by a traumatic event; such as being bitten by a dog (leading to a dog phobia), almost being pushed off a high place (leading to fear of heights), and so forth. Fear of specific animals is the most common specific phobia. This condition can exist with panic disorder and agoraphobia.

Your physician may ask the following questions to diagnose your specific phobia …

1. Are you troubled by discomfort in social situations?

2. Are you fearful of places or situations where getting help or escape might be difficult, such as in a crowd, on a bridge, or alone in a high place?

3. Do you experience shortness of breath or a racing heart for no apparent reason?

4. Do you suffer from a persistent and unreasonable dis-comfort when flying, in a high place, around animals, or at the sight of blood or other objects or situations?

5. Are you unable to travel without a companion?

Robby, age thirty-five, suffered from a fear of being bitten by a large dog. As a youngster, he had witnessed his brother being bitten by a rabid rottweiler. As Robby got older, he almost forgot about his fear until a neighbor bought a large dog that barked at him one day when he was out for a walk. Robby started to sweat and feel dizzy. His heart raced and he couldn’t catch his breath. After that, he stopped taking walks and consulted his physician. Robby was diagnosed with specific phobia.

PTSD can occur at any age, although older adults rarely have it.

For PTSD to be diagnosed, your symptoms must be present for more than a month and must result in decreased ability to work, socialize, and participate in other areas of daily functioning.

Your physician will probably ask you the following questions …

1. Have you experienced or witnessed a life-threatening event that caused intense fear, helplessness, or horror?

2. Do you reexperience the event and feel numb or detached, avoid thinking or talking about it, avoid activities or people who remind you of it, blank on important parts of it, lose interest in significant activities in your life, or sense your life will never be normal again?

3. Are you troubled by two or more of the followingproblems sleeping, irritability or outbursts of anger, problems concentrating, feeling “on guard,” or startling easily?

Jeff, age forty-one, came back from active duty in Iraq. Four of his buddies had died when their jeep passed over a land mine. He was thrown from the vehicle, but his buddies were killed. His physical injuries were severe enough for him to be sent back to the United States. In the VA hospital, Jeff lost interest in living and tried to hang himself. He began to have flashbacks of the incident in Iraq, couldn’t keep his mind on a TV show, startled easily, couldn’t sleep, and had unpredictable outbursts of anger. His nurse practitioner diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder

If you have an intense fear and embarrassment in social or performance situations, you may be suffering from social phobia. If this is the case, you may be acutely aware of the physical signs of your anxiety (blushing, palpitations, tremors, sweating, diarrhea, confusion) and worry that others will notice, judge them, and think poorly of you. This kind of anxiety can lead to a panic attack when you are faced with a social situation or avoidance of the activity altogether.

If you suffer from social phobia, you tend to be sensitive to criticism and rejection, have difficulty asserting yourself, and suffer from low self-esteem. Common situations that bring out social phobia are performance related (speaking in public or to strangers, fear of meeting new people, writing, eating, and/or drinking in public).

Onset of social phobia is mid-to-late adolescence, but children may also exhibit symptoms. In childhood, the condition includes excessive shyness, clinging behavior, tantrums, mutism, decline in school performance, and avoidance of school and social activities with peers.

Compulsions can also be involved. Compulsions are repetitive behaviors; for example, cleaning your house constantly, washing your hands repeatedly, or showering many times a day.

In both cases, you realize your actions are excessive and unrea-sonable but you’re unable to stop them. make sure your stove is turned off or your doors are locked. Repeating a name, phrase, or action over and over also qualifies as a compulsion, as does taking an excessively slow and methodical approach to daily activities so that you spend hours organizing and arranging objects, or hoarding them. Hoarders are unable to throw away useless items, such as old newspapers, junk mail, even broken appliances. When hoarding reaches epic proportions, whole rooms can be filled with saved items .

OCD usually starts gradually, most often in adolescence or early adulthood. Unlike adults, children with OCD do not realize that their obsessions and compulsions are excessive.

To be diagnosed with this disorder, your obsessions and/or com-pulsions must take up at least one hour every day and interfere with normal routines (for example, if you can’t make left turns when driving), occupational functioning, social activities, or relationships. You may feel the need to avoid certain situations. If you’re obsessed with cleanliness, you may not be able to use public rest rooms.

Questions your physician may ask to determine whether you have OCD include …

1. Do you have unwanted ideas, images, or impulses that seem silly, nasty, or horrible?

2. Do you worry constantly about dirt, germs, or chemicals?

3. Are you excessively worried that something bad will happen if you forget something important, like turning off appliances or locking the door?

4. Do you keep many things you don’t use because you can’t throw them away?

5. Do you avoid situations or people you worry about hurting by angry words or actions?

Laura, age thirty-one, could not leave her house unless she washed her hands ten times. She’d taken biochemistry in college and knew humans swim in a sea of bacteria and viruses and she feared the dirt and disease-causing organisms in her environment. The hand-washing seemed to help at first, but then her skin became chapped and red, and she knew she had to stop it. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop washing. Her primary-care physician diagnosed her with obsessive-compulsive disorder and started to buy xanax regimen.