Anxiety treatment in the US has relied on tranquilizers, benzodiazepines, and antidepressants, with no new FDA-approved anxiety drugs since 2004

Our World in Data
Our World in Data
1m ago
Anxiety affects a large share of people globally, and US FDA approvals show anxiety drug treatment shifting from 1950s tranquilizers to benzodiazepines and then antidepressants, with no new anxiety medications approved since 2004.
Anxiety treatment in the US has relied on tranquilizers, benzodiazepines, and antidepressants, with no new FDA-approved anxiety drugs since 2004
A What happened
Anxiety is estimated to affect 4% to 5% of people globally at any given time, and long-term US surveys suggest around one-third of people experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives. In the United States, at least 22 drugs have been officially approved for anxiety treatment since 1955, with a timeline spanning tranquilizers in the 1950s, benzodiazepines up to the mid-1980s, and antidepressants in the following two decades. The last new anxiety medication approved in the US was duloxetine in 2004, and no new drugs have been approved for treating anxiety in almost twenty years. The percentage of American adults receiving mental health treatment, including taking medications, has increased in the last few years.
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Key insights

  • 1

    FDA approvals show a long shift in anxiety drug classes: US anxiety drug treatment moved from 1950s tranquilizers to decades of benzodiazepines and then to antidepressants such as SSRIs and SNRIs.

  • 2

    No new US anxiety drug approvals since 2004, with changes mainly incremental: The last new anxiety medication approved in the US was duloxetine in 2004, and later developments cited include formulation and dosage adaptations and off-label prescribing rather than new approved drugs.

  • 3

    Abuse and dependence concerns influenced prescribing patterns: Benzodiazepines can act quickly but carry concerns about abuse, dependence, and withdrawal, and SSRIs are more likely to be prescribed because they do not have the same abuse and dependency potential and can be taken longer.

Takeaways

US FDA approvals show anxiety medications evolving across several drug classes, with duloxetine in 2004 as the most recent new anxiety drug approval and subsequent progress centered on adaptations, off-label use, and drugs in trials.

Topics

Health & Medicine Medicine Mental Health Public Health Science & Research Medical Research

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