What are beta blockers, how do they work, and how are beta blockers used in the treatment of anxiety disorders?
Beta blockers are a family of medicines that are actually used in a variety of fields of medicine, including psychiatry. In fact they’re most frequently used as medications to treat high blood pressure. They work by binding to and blocking the beta adrenergic receptor, which is the receptor found in different parts of the body that is intrinsically activated by epinephrine and norepinephrine. There are two different types of beta receptors. The beta-1 receptor which is found in the brain but also in the heart, and the beta-2 receptor which is found in the brain but also in the lungs and on blood vessels. So there are a variety of different types of beta receptors. The differences stem from selectivity in which beta receptor these drugs block, whether it’s the beta-1 or beta-2 or both receptors. And there are clinical situations where one might want to have that selectivity.
