Antianxiety drugs are medicines that calm and relax people with excessive anxiety, nervousness, or tension. Everyone feels nervous or anxious once in awhile. Usually, the feeling is related to something happening in the person's life, such as a job interview, and it goes away when life is back to normal again. This type of anxiety does not need medical treatment. But some people feel anxious almost all the time, or they respond to slightly stressful events with feelings that are out of proportion. Constant anxiety, irrational worries, and sense of impending doom can seriously interfere with their daily lives. For people with such intense or prolonged anxiety, antianxiety drugs can help bring their feelings under control and reduce bothersome symptoms such as pounding heartbeat, breathing problems, irritability, nausea, and faintness.

Antianxiety drugs are prescribed for severe general anxiety and for specific anxiety disorders, such as phobias...