Anti-anxiety Drugs – NCLEX Review (Nursing)

00:00 Now let's take a look at pharmacology and psychiatric care.

00:04 I'm gonna help you recognize what every nurse, no matter what your specialty is, the areas you should recognize.

00:10 Now, these are the diagnosis that we're looking at.

00:13 Anxiety, psychosis, depression, and the need for mood stabilizers.

00:18 This is gonna be what we cover.

00:20 Anti-anxiety agents, remember, they have a sedative hypnotic effect because they potentiate GABA in the brain.

00:27 There's a list of some of the medications that you should be able to recognize.

00:31 Again, I included the generic and the trade name just because they might sound familiar to you but on an NCLEX, you're only gonna see the generic name.

00:41 The therapeutic uses for these medications are dealing with anxiety or panic disorder, we've got somebody withdrawing from alcohol, and for treating seizures.

00:49 The side effects are what you would expect because it's a sedative hypnotic.

00:54 They make you kinda drowsy and lethargic. It could make depression worse.

00:58 Make sure you kinda star that so you recognize it.

01:01 You don't want to take this sedative hypnotic-type medication with another CNS depressant.

01:08 Now it can, in some patients, give us the opposite effect or paradoxical effect and make them extra excitable or have issues with rage so you're gonna have to work that out on a case by case basis.

01:20 And lots of drugs don't play well with MAOIs but this is another example of a group that will not.

01:27 They might have problems with orthostatic hypotension.

01:30 It's more likely for giving them IV route than the oral route.

01:33 They have the anticholinergic side effects.

01:36 We've got dry mouth but they can also have issues with nausea and vomiting and diarrhea particularly in withdrawal.

01:44 So you'll see we've got these symptoms located head to toe again to help you organize them and keep them in mind.

01:50 And we've got dizziness and ataxia at the bottom.

01:53 I know it's impacting the brain but it messes with the brain being able to tell the body how to move correctly and be safe so we worry about ataxia, particularly falls.