Guide To Diagnosing And Treating Agoraphobia

Antidepressants

Many different antidepressants that may be used to help treat agoraphobia with or without the presence of depression. Some of the most common are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors like sertraline and fluoxetine. Sertraline is one of the most common maintenance medications used for anxiety because it's an SSRI with significant anti-anxiety effects. While SSRIs tend to be the first line of treatment for agoraphobia, other antidepressants might be effective if a patient doesn't find them be helpful. Another class of medications is serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), which affect serotonin and norepinephrine rather than just serotonin. There are also tricyclic antidepressants, but these tend to have more serious side effects, so they're less likely to be prescribed if a patient hasn't tried other antidepressants first. Other options are atypical antidepressants, which are antidepressants that don't fit any predetermined category.