Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Generalized anxiety disorders may entail the patient having continuous worries that affect their relationships, career, and other life issues. They thus result in more persistent worry that is not temporal. They have the potential to cause panic attacks whereas panic disorders result in recurring panic attacks with anxiety as the patient is ever speculative on the next panic attack (Gautam, et al, 2017). On the contrary, panic disorders derive from panic attacks that have no motivating factor or trigger. Both generalized anxiety and panic disorders are complex and are treated with professional care. However, the treatment of anxiety disorder can entail pharmacological intervention, psychotherapies, or a combination of both pharmacological intervention and psychotherapies.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first line of treatment for panic attacks are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) which are antidepressants. This class of drugs has fluoxetine, paroxetine, and sertraline. Further, FDA has approved serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) drugs such as venlafaxine which is a class of antidepressants for generalized panic disorders. In both conditions, serotonin reuptake inhibitors are used but in the treatment of generalized panic disorders norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors are also included in the class of medication (Zugliani, et al, 2019). Also, the FDA has authorized the use of Benzodiazepines such as alprazolam and clonazepam as sedatives that depress the central nervous system. The neurobiology of the medication used for panic attacks and anxiety disorders makes them more or less appropriate for the conditions. This is because they are addictive leading to mental and physical dependence due to their effect on the central nervous system (Seddon, & Nutt, 2007). Thus, they should not be used on a long-term basis and by patients with alcohol and drug use. Moreover, they present drug interaction challenges resulting in adverse side effects.

References
Gautam, S., Jain, A., Gautam, M., Vahia, V. N., & Gautam, A. (2017). Clinical practice guidelines for the management of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and panic disorder (PD). Indian journal of psychiatry, 59(Suppl 1), S67.
Seddon, K., & Nutt, D. (2007). Pharmacological treatment of a panic disorder. Psychiatry, 6(5), 198-203.
Zugliani, M. M., Cabo, M. C., Nardi, A. E., Perna, G., & Freire, R. C. (2019). Pharmacological and neuromodulatory treatments for panic disorder: clinical trials from 2010 to 2018. Psychiatry Investigation, 16(1), 50.