3 ms·
I don't know about pain, but for anxiety there are other drugs that are intended for long term use. The ones I'm aware of (mirtazapine and venlafaxine) are als
by elihu 8y ago
I don't know about pain, but for anxiety there are other drugs that are intended for long term use. The ones I'm aware of (mirtazapine and venlafaxine) are also used as anti-depressants.
- jnovek 8y agoBenzos generally treat acute anxiety where serotonin/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors treat chronic anxiety. Further, some folks don't tolerate SS(N)RI's very well, they have wide-ranging and difficult side-effects.
- elihu 8y agoYeah, I can see where there'd be cases where SSRIs and SNRIs wouldn't work out; everyone's situation is a little different. It seems like there's a problem in the general case though, if you have doctors that are a little too quick to prescribe benzos and refer the prescribing of antidepressants to a specialist. For those that live in an area with a shortage of mental health professionals, it might take a month or two to see a psychiatrist (and then maybe only after talking to a therapist or something first), and then maybe a few weeks more before the antidepressants start working, which is longer than anyone ought to be on benzos if they can at all help it.