Pharmacology Notes

Anxiety disorders are common occurrences in society today. These disorders can prove stressful and disruptive to those suff ering from them. There are a variety of anxiety disorders for which drug therapy may be therapeutic. Antianxiety drugs or hypnotics are the most common classifi cations of medications that may be used to treat these disorders. Sleep disturbances are also extremely common. If continuous, they have the potential to seriously disrupt normal day-to-day living. Many people suff ering from a sleep disorder want to turn to drugs to solve their problem. Th e use of drugs in many of these situations is usually undesirable. Many of the medications discussed in this chapter are also administered as muscle relaxants, preanesthetic medications, anticonvulsants, and therapeutic aids in psychiatry.