Rachel Shmuts, DO Assistant Professor Department of Psychiatry Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine Stratford, New Jersey
Abigail Kay, MD Associate Professor Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Melanie Beck, DO PGY-1 Psychiatry Resident Cooper Medical School of Rowan University AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center Camden, New Jersey
Disclosures Dr. Kay is a speaker for the American Association for the Treatment of Opiate Dependence and a suboxone trainer for the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry. Drs. Shmuts and Beck report no financial relationships with any companies whose products are mentioned in this article, or with manufacturers of competing products.
Unfortunately, historical and longitudinal data on the prescribing practices of buspirone is limited because the original branded medication, BuSpar, is no longer on the market. However, this medication offers multiple advantages over other agents used to treat anxiety, and it should not be forgotten when formulating a treatment regimen for patients with anxiety and/or depression.
Bottom Line
Buspirone is a safe, low-cost, effective treatment option for patients with anxiety and may be helpful as an augmenting agent for depression. Because of its efficacy and high degree of tolerability, it should be prioritized higher in our treatment algorithms and be a part of our routine pharmacologic armamentarium.
Related Resources
Howland RH. Buspirone: Back to the future. J Psychosoc Nurs Ment Health Serv. 2015;53(11):21-24.
Strawn JR, Mills JA, Cornwall GJ, et al. Buspirone in children and adolescents with anxiety: a review and Bayesian analysis of abandoned randomized controlled trials. J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol. 2018;28(1):2-9.
