Hi. The trouble with benzodiazepines (Xanax, etc.) is that if they help, they work poorly if used regularly long term. That is because they are habit-forming and you need more and more over time to get the same effect. This can lead to serious addiction and all that addiction means. However, if you are able to use one only occasionally, say for particularly stressful events, or on an extra bad day, they can be really helpful for some people. But for some people, even if only used occasionally, they just don't work, or have an effect that is either not lessening their anxiety, or, if it is, is also causing side effects which can sometimes be as bad as the anxiety itself. It's very individual. (What redditacountiuse said about them accelerating suicidal thoughts is not unheard of. That kind of reaction goes beyond a "side effect." It would be called an adverse reaction. Doctors tend not to talk about these very unpleasant adverse reactions, but they are not all that uncommon with benzos and other psychopharmecaueticals.) If you're talking about taking something every day long term, then you'd probably be prescribed an anti-depressant (one of the ones that can also help with anxiety disorders), or possibly Buspar which is in a different class of drugs but is also used to treat anxiety long term. These drugs are hit or miss for many people, and sometimes you have to go through a bunch of them to even see if one may help. They are also serious drugs that can have side effects or cause weird adverse reactions. However, for some people, the are life-changing. You mention that to many using these kinds of medications are taboo and considered a last resort. Well....I think that's particularly true on this sub because it's about stuttering and many posters here have moved past living with debilitating anxiety (and other awful things) through self-acceptance. If you went to a sub about anxiety disorders that do not appear to be connected to a concrete thing like stuttering, you would find less debate about the use of pharmaceuticals. I do not mean to be telling you what to do -- I couldn't possibly. I can't disagree with the people on here who say that accepting your stutter is the way out of the kind of prison that many people who stutter live in. But what about when that's not possible, or not possible right now for someone? As long as you're aware of the risks, and not misusing addictive drugs, I don't think there's any shame in trying a medication that can reduce anxiety. P.S. I've personally had quite negative experiences with the kinds of prescription drugs I've mentioned here plus a bunch of others. This was not to treat stutter-related anxiety, but cripplingly severe anxiety nonetheless. I even had such an adverse reaction to an ADD drug that I am still suffering the effects 15 years later. I am not cavalier about psychoactive drugs. NONE worked for me; some made things worse; one made things indescribably worse. However: I am an outlier. My experience is not typical. It's created a personal bias against these drugs for myself, and I do believe they are generally less effective more problematic than their makers proclaim. But for some people they can have just the right chemical effect and are life savers.