Tranquilizers

Tranquilizers are the most commonly used prescription drugs in the United States. The three major groups of tranquilizers are the benzodiazepines with the brand names of Valium, Librium, and Alprazolam. The second major group are the dephenylmethanes prescribed under the brand names of Vistaril and Atarax. The third group are the older alcohol-like propanediols that came out in the 1950s, such as tybamate and meprobamate under the brand names of Equanil and Miltown.

The physician chooses among the various tranquilizers the one that will best serve the patient's need. Stress is a normal part of daily living for most people and it will produce in each individual a certain range of anxiety. Tranquilizers are prescribed on a non-psychiatric basis by the physician in general practice when the level of anxiety experienced by the individual interferes with the ability to cope with everyday stressful events or when anxiety symptoms have reached clinical proportions.

Panic attacks respond well with the treatment of alprazolam. Certain antidepressant drugs have also been found useful in treating panic disorder. Other symptoms, such as rapid heart rate, palpitations, involuntary motor reactions, insomnia or other sleep disorders, diarrhea, bandlike headaches, increased urination rate, and gastric discomfort can be temporarily relieved by the use of other tranquilizers.

It is, however, necessary for the physician to point out to the patient that the tranquilizers are covering up the symptoms rather than curing them. The hazard in such palliative treatment is that the underlying condition may get worse without the conflict resolution necessary for the nervous system to readjust itself to the demands of reality.

Tranquilizers are not suited for long term use and over a period of time higher dosages may be needed, especially for the mild euphoria that some of them produce. While they do not pose the degree of dependency of other psychoactive drugs, some have been limited for general use because of the potential of overdependence. Valium is an example of a benzodiazepine that now is prescribed more cautiously.

Buspirone (BuSpar) appears to avoid the problem of possible dependency as well as that of drowsiness. This drug appeared in the mid-1980s. It is reported to be a "true" tranquilizer in that it does not produce either the slight euphoria of other tranquilizers or the drowsiness which is also characteristic of the sedative effect of other tranquilizers.