Why do doctors prescribe antidepressants for panic? Because they work -- at least, in some panic sufferers, some of the time. It's not really new news, but it turns out that people with panic disorder exhibit "a reduction of almost a third in the number of 5HT1A receptors in the anterior cingulate cortex, the posterior cingulate cortex and the raphe nucleus - three structures roughly in the middle of the brain." Another way of putting it: "...key brain receptors that receive chemical signals from other cells are deficient in those who suffer from panic attacks. The receptors help move the brain chemical serotonin—it regulates emotion—around the brain." So why do SSRIs -- today's most popular class of antidepressants, which inhibit the reuptake of serotonin -- work? As CrazyMeds.org puts it, "These drugs don't make you produce more serotonin, rather they make your neurons soak for a longer period of time in the serotonin you already produce."
Why do doctors prescribe antidepressants for panic?
Because they work -- at least, in some panic sufferers, some of the time.
It's not really new news, but it turns out that people with panic disorder exhibit "a reduction of almost a third in the number of 5HT1A receptors in the anterior cingulate cortex, the posterior cingulate cortex and the raphe nucleus - three structures roughly in the middle of the brain." Another way of putting it: "...key brain receptors that receive chemical signals from other cells are deficient in those who suffer from panic attacks. The receptors help move the brain chemical serotonin—it regulates emotion—around the brain."
So why do SSRIs -- today's most popular class of antidepressants, which inhibit the reuptake of serotonin -- work? As CrazyMeds.org puts it, "These drugs don't make you produce more serotonin, rather they make your neurons soak for a longer period of time in the serotonin you already produce."