In the modern world, most people are forced to constantly be in a state of stress and emotional tension, which, of course, leads over time to various neurotic disorders. By the way, in developed countries up to 20% of the population suffers from these violations.
In connection with the described situation, the problems of diagnosing neurotic disorders, as well as their treatment, are now becoming one of the most relevant in pharmacology and medicine. And drugs that help cope with increased anxiety, anxiety and disturbances in the emotional background, today are among the most popular.
In the article we will try to examine in more detail the effect of psychotropic drugs, a group of which include tranquilizers, also called anxiolytics, and antidepressants, as well as to understand what the difference between their effect on the human body is.
Anxiety Disorders - The Scourge of Modern Man
Among the psychoemotional disorders that manifest themselves in the framework of psychosomatic diseases and neurosis (neurasthenia should be highlighted first), it is anxiety disorders that are most often encountered. By the way, they can also be observed as a separate nosological form (i.e., an independent disease), for example, in the form of panic attacks, social phobias, or generalized anxiety disorder. And, unfortunately, anxiety and depressive disorders today occur in 70% of patients with depressive states of non-psychotic origin, while for unknown reasons 75% of them are women.
It is worth noting that while in neurosis the feeling of fear and anxiety intensifies, regardless of the nature of the underlying disease, then in medicine this is always regarded as a negative circumstance. This happens because anxiety greatly worsens the patient’s psycho-emotional state, and psychosomatic pathology may develop against the background of this, and his somatic (bodily) diseases will be more difficult and with a worse prognosis.
Various psychotropic drugs help to combat anxiety, which include tranquilizers (anxiolytics) and antidepressants.
Anxiolytics (tranquilizers) and antidepressants: the difference between them
But it must immediately be clarified that, despite a similar general orientation, these funds have different effects on the patient. And the main difference between tranquilizers and antidepressants is that anxiolytics work to eliminate the feelings of anxiety, longing, anxiety, irritability that accompany depression, and antidepressants fight the disease itself.
Tranquilizers (a list of drugs with this action will be provided below) immediately reveals their effect, but it usually lasts no more than a day, after which the patient, again not receiving the next dose of the drug, may experience disturbing symptoms.
The effect of antidepressants is longer, since it is aimed at the causes of the appearance of a pathological condition. The course of treatment with these drugs can last 1-2 months, and in severe cases, up to a year. But with proper therapy, antidepressants can completely get rid of depression. In severe cases of the disease, tranquilizers are prescribed together with antidepressants - some treat the manifestation of the disease, while others treat its cause.
What properties do tranquilizers have?
So, we found that tranquilizers in the first place have an anxiolytic effect - this is a decrease in the patient's feelings of fear, anxiety, tension, manifested to one degree or another with various psychosomatic pathologies.
As a rule, tranquilizers also have a sedative (general sedative), hypnotic, muscle relaxant (lowering muscle tone), as well as anticonvulsant effect. And the hypnotic effect of the described drugs is expressed in increasing the effect on the patient's body of sleeping pills, analgesics (painkillers), as well as narcotic drugs used together with tranquilizers.
The named drugs can be very effective in obsessive states (the so-called obsessivity) or increased suspiciousness (hypochondria). But it should be noted that at the same time, acute affective, delusional, hallucinatory and other disorders, which can also be accompanied by anxiety, fear and anxiety, are not amenable to treatment with tranquilizers.
How is the transmission of information in the human brain?
To understand how a person develops a constant feeling of fear and anxiety, emotional tension, as well as other signs of a depressed state, let's look at a general outline of how information is transmitted in the brain.
The brain consists of nerve cells - neurons that do not directly touch each other. There is a synapse between the neurons (or synaptic cleft), and therefore the transfer of information, namely electrical impulses between neurons, is carried out using chemical intermediaries called mediators.
Violations in the emotional sphere of a person lead to a change in the concentration of some mediators (this condition includes a decrease in the number of three of them): norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine.
How does an antidepressant work?
The action of antidepressants is aimed at regulating the number of mediators. As soon as the neuron receives an electrical signal, the neurotransmitters enter the synapse and help to transmit this signal further. But if they are destroyed, then the transmission process becomes weak or even impossible. And in such cases, as a rule, we are talking about a depressed state of a person - the patient's concentration is disturbed, apathy occurs, the emotional background decreases, anxiety, a sense of fear and the like manifestations of a pathological condition appear.
The appointment of antidepressants in this state interferes with the destruction of mediators, due to which the transmission of the nerve impulse is enhanced, and signal inhibition is compensated.
But it should be borne in mind that antidepressants with prolonged use will inevitably cause side effects in the form of weight changes, impaired sexual activity, dizziness, nausea, and itching of the skin. Why these legal psychotropic drugs are inevitably placed in the category of drugs that require special control over the appointment and administration.
Why are tranquilizers so widespread?
Unlike antidepressants, the effect of anxiolytics is to reduce the excitability in the subcortical areas of the brain, while the effect on the concentration of mediators in these drugs is weak.
In clinical practice, the spread of tranquilizers (anxiolytics) is facilitated by the fact that, compared with antidepressants, they have fewer severe side effects and, as a rule, are well tolerated by the patient.
Anxiolytic drugs are used both in a hospital setting and in outpatient treatment. And the scope of their use has long gone beyond psychiatry. It covers neurological, surgical, oncological and other diseases. And this is primarily due to the fact that since the development of the first tranquilizers, their group has more than 100 different drugs with a wide scope, and new ones are still being developed.
In what cases are anxiolytics used?
So, as you probably already understood, in order to eliminate the feeling of fear, anxiety, increase the threshold of emotional excitability, normalize sleep, reduce irritability, restraint and hypochondriac reactions, the patient needs an anxiolytic. Their effect helps to streamline the patient’s behavior, reduce central nervous system depletion, improve the patient’s social adaptation and even reduce autonomic disorders. Indications for the use of these funds are both neurotic states and manifestations of sleep disorders, as well as cardiovascular problems and pain syndromes.
The most common in such cases are tranquilizers related to benzodiazepines: Xanax, Lorazepam, Finazepam, Elenium, Diazepam or Relanium. But so-called atypical anxiolytics, for example, Buspirona hydrochloride or Mexidol, are also widely used.
Tranquilizers: list of drugs and their effects
Tranquilizers (anxiolytics), as already mentioned, are used in the treatment of many diseases of both psychosomatic and somatic origin.
These drugs help reduce the excitability of those parts of the human brain that are responsible for emotional reactions. And the main thing in tranquilizers is the anxiolytic effect, which is expressed not only in reducing anxiety, but also in reducing obsessiveness (obsessive thoughts), as well as in alleviating hypochondria (increased suspiciousness). They relieve mental stress, fear and anxiety, which is most pronounced for such drugs as Finazepam, Nozepam, Diazepam and Lorazepam.
And the preparations "Nitrazepam" and "Alprazolam", which have a pronounced sedative effect, can also be classified as hypnotic tranquilizer. Medicines Mezapam and Grandaxin are referred to as the so-called daytime tranquilizers, which are practically devoid of muscle relaxant (relaxing muscles) and sedative properties, which allows them to be taken during working hours.
The drugs "Clonazepam", "Finazepam" and "Diazepam", in addition, have an anticonvulsant effect, and they are used to treat vegetative crises and convulsive syndrome.
How are anxiolytics prescribed?
When prescribing anxiolytics, the difference in the spectrum of their action must be taken into account. Although in large doses, any of them exhibit all pharmacological properties characteristic of tranquilizers.
The usual course of treatment for drugs that have an anxiolytic effect is about 4 weeks. In this case, the drug is taken from a week to 10 days constantly, and then a three-day break is made, after which the drug is resumed. This mode allows in many cases to avoid the effect of addiction if necessary long-term use.
In this case, a short-acting anxiolytic agent (for example, “Lorazepam” or “Alprazolam”) is recommended to be taken 3-4 times a day, and drugs with a long-term effect (“Diazepam” and others) - not more than 2 times a day. By the way, "Diazepam" is often prescribed to be taken once before bedtime, as it has a pronounced sedative effect.
Caution when taking tranquilizers
But all the drugs described above require mandatory medical supervision, otherwise the patient may develop addiction - the anxiolytic effect with prolonged use will be reduced and an increase in the dose of the drug will be required. In addition, the formation of drug dependence is likely . And with prolonged use, the risk of dependence increases especially strongly. In turn, this can also cause the so-called withdrawal syndrome, which leads to a general deterioration of the patient’s condition and, by the way, to exacerbation of precisely those symptoms that anxiolytics were aimed at eliminating.
By the way, these side effects of tranquilizers are especially pronounced in children and adolescents under 18 years of age, which is why their use in this age category is possible only in exceptional cases, when there are clearly substantiated indications for this. But even so, the duration of therapy should be minimized.
List of the main adverse effects of anxiolytics
Unfortunately, the anxiolytic effect is not only the anti-neurotic effect of the drug on the human body, but also some problems caused by its side effects.
The main manifestations of the side effects of tranquilizers are a decrease in the level of wakefulness, which is expressed in daytime sleepiness, impaired attention and forgetfulness.
And the effect of muscle relaxation (relaxation of skeletal muscles) is also manifested by general weakness or a decrease in strength in some muscle groups. In some cases, the use of tranquilizers is also accompanied by the so-called “behavioral toxicity”, that is, a slight violation of cognitive functions, expressed in a certain decrease in memory, susceptibility and speech skills.
One of the ways to alleviate the situation, doctors consider the use of daytime tranquilizers, which include Gidazepam, Prazepam, as well as Mebikar, Trimetozin, Medazepam and other drugs in which these side effects are manifested to a small extent.
Signs of an overdose of tranquilizers
The pronounced anxiolytic effect of tranquilizers often leads to thoughtless and uncontrolled intake of these drugs. After all, quickly getting rid of a state of emotional stress is so great!
But anxiolytics, especially those that belong to benzodiazepines, are easily soluble in fats, which helps them to be completely absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and evenly distributed in the tissues of the human body. And this, in turn, leads to very serious consequences in case of an overdose.
As a rule, an overdose is accompanied by increased drowsiness, weakness, impaired gait, speech and dizziness. More severe stages of poisoning are accompanied by respiratory failure, a change in tendon reflexes, a complete loss of consciousness, and sometimes a coma. Therefore, despite the fact that it is not difficult to purchase some tranquilizers (although they are psychotropic drugs) without a prescription, remember - these drugs can be taken only on the advice of the attending physician and under his control!
What other drugs have an anxiolytic effect?
By the way, drugs that are not related to sedative-hypnotics are sometimes used as anti-anxiety drugs in medicine. So, for example, an antihistamine such as Hydroxyzine has a clear anxiolytic effect. This is especially expressed in situations where anxiety and emotional stress of the patient are caused by skin irritations.
Some nootropic drugs (for example, "Phenibut") also have an anti-anxiety effect. The homeopathic remedy "Tenaten" has also proved worthy.
Tinctures of some medicinal herbs (motherwort, immortelle, prickly thistle, Rhodiola rosea, peony and Schisandra chinensis) will help improve mood by removing the feeling of depression or irritation. And calendula will relieve not only psycho-emotional stress, but also the headache caused by it.
Stress resistance will help increase the ginseng root, and with insomnia angelica and hawthorn will be useful. All these herbal infusions are drunk in courses of 14 days, and if the expected effect does not occur, a doctor's consultation is required.