How does Buspirone (Buspar) work for anxiety treatment?
In vitro studies demonstrated Buspar has a high affinity for serotonin receptors (receptors in the brain that mediate arousal). Buspar has no significant affinity for benzodiazepine receptors in the brain. However, the mechanism of action of Buspar is not definitively known. Buspar differs from typical benzodiazepines like Valium or Xanax anti-anxiety medication because it doesn t exert anti-seizure or muscle relaxant effects. Buspirone also lacks the prominent sedative effect shown in benzodiazepines. (top) How effective is Buspar? The excellent effectiveness of Buspar as an anti-anxiety treatment has been proven in controlled clinical trials of outpatients with a diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). These patients experienced symptoms from 1 month to over 1 year prior to the study, displaying average symptom duration of 6 months. Generalized, persistent anxiety symptoms (minimally one month continual duration), manifested from three of the four following categories: Motor
