instruction: hello doctor I currently suffer from anxiety attacks and panic attacks it has been changing over the course of about four years getting better and worse again in everyday life it is manageable but the attacks cause some unreasonable thoughts and ideas to form I have heard about the use of benzodiazepine for anxiety can they be taken to stop panic and anxiety attacks without needing consistent everyday dosages during panic or anxiety attacks I usually feel very worthless and in some cases try to or think about hurting myself generally my anxiety tends to do with social situations where I feel like I am not liked or if I said something wrong I have visited a counselor in the past very briefly ironically my anxiety was worsened with the guilt of therapy being very expensive so I stopped seeing her
output: hello anxiety and panic attacks are extremely common and 15 to 20 percent of people suffer from this issue at some point in their lives standard treatment for anxiety is the use of sari selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor type of medicines they are usually given for two or four months and then stopped slowly by tapering it off they take two weeks to usually start taking the effect till then low dose benzodiazepine can be used I do not recommend the use of benzodiazepine which you are considering since it just takes care of symptoms of anxiety and the intervals at which you will need to take it will reduce as you keep on using it and eventually it will lead to addiction this is because withdrawal from benzodiazepine will produce the same symptoms as that of anxiety also consider doing deep breathing exercises or progressive muscle relaxation along with medicines