It works by balancing serotonin levels and other neurotransmitters. Each drug used to treat depression works by balancing certain chemicals in your brain called neurotransmitters. These drugs work in slightly different ways to ease your depression symptoms. They’re also used off-label to help relieve the physical symptoms of anxiety, venlafaxine hcl er especially in social anxiety disorder. Thus, the challenge for clinicians is to make a rapid and accurate diagnosis and then to ensure adequate and effective treatment. The mechanism of action here concerns the endocannabinoid system in the human body.

The antidepressants most widely prescribed for anxiety are SSRIs such as Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Lexapro, and Celexa. SSRIs have been used to treat generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Atypical antidepressants increase dopamine, serotonin, or norepinephrine levels in the brain. They have multiple mechanisms of action and are commonly prescribed when other antidepressants do not improve depression symptoms. Again, experts strongly recommend taking medication and going to therapy for the best results if you’re dealing with severe mental health symptoms.

Enter your phone number below to receive a free and confidential call from a treatment provider. ADAA provides this Website blogs for the benefit of its members and the public. Any comments or opinions expressed are those of their respective contributors only. As such, we are not responsible for any messages posted or the consequences of following any advice offered within such posts. If you find any posts in these posts/comments to be offensive, inaccurate or objectionable, please contact us via email at [email protected] and reference the relevant content. If we determine that removal of a post or posts is necessary, we will make reasonable efforts to do so in a timely manner.

Clomipramine is a nonselective SRI, which means that it affects many other neurotransmitters besides serotonin. For this reason, clomipramine has a more complicated set of side effects than the SSRIs. In general, SSRIs are usually tried first because they are easier for people to tolerate.