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Wellbutrin Dosage for Depression and Anxiety, Side Effects & Uses

Wellbutrin is an antidepressant that can be used in both on- and off-label situations. Additionally, it could be referred to by the generic name bupropion. Continue reading to find out more about Wellbutrin’s relationship to anxiety as well as its advantages and disadvantages.


By We Level Up FL Treatment Center | Editor Yamilla Francese | Clinically Reviewed By Lauren Barry, LMFT, MCAP, QS, Director of Quality Assurance | Editorial Policy | Research Policy | Last Updated: January 16, 2023

Difference Between Anxiety and Depression: Wellbutrin Dosage for Depression and Anxiety

Anxiety and depression difference: The fact that one term denotes a single sickness while the other denotes a collection of ailments is a significant distinction between anxiety and depression. What is the difference between anxiety and depression? The main difference between depression and anxiety is:

  • In reality, depression is one illness. There are numerous distinct symptoms (see below). And different people may experience it very differently. However, the term “depression” only refers to one illness.
  • The word “anxiety” can indicate a number of different things. We all experience anxiety occasionally, and the word “anxiety” can be used to simply describe that feeling. However, when we use the word anxiety in a medical context, it actually refers to anxiety disorder.

Some less frequent conditions are included under anxiety. These include panic disorders and phobias. However, generalized anxiety disorder is the most prevalent (GAD). In the US, a generalized anxiety disorder may affect four to five out of every 100 persons. In this post, we’ll concentrate on generalized anxiety.

What is Anxiety Disorder?

Periodic anxiety is a normal component of life, according to The National Institute on Mental Health. When faced with a challenge at work, before a test, or before making a crucial decision, you could experience anxiety. However, anxiety disorders involve more than just passing apprehension or terror.

Anxiety and depression difference: It’s critical to get anxiety treatment as soon as you can since, for someone with an anxiety condition, the anxiety does not go away and can actually worsen over time. The symptoms might affect daily tasks like work performance, academic progress, and interpersonal connections. Generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and various phobia-related disorders are only a few of the several types of anxiety disorders.

Anxiety and depression difference: People with a generalized Anxiety disorder (GAD) display excessive Anxiety or worry, most days for at least 6 months, about many things such as personal health, work, social interactions, and everyday routine life circumstances. Fear and Anxiety can cause significant problems in areas of their life, such as social interactions, school, and work. 

Depression (also known as Major Depressive Illness or Clinical Depression) is a common but significant mood disorder.
Wellbutrin for Depression: Depression (also known as Major Depressive Illness or Clinical Depression) is a common but significant mood disorder.

What is Depression? Wellbutrin for Anxiety

Depression (also known as Major Depressive Illness or Clinical Depression) is a common but significant mood disorder, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. It produces severe symptoms that interfere with your ability to function on a daily basis, including sleeping, eating, and working. The signs of depression must last for at least two weeks before a diagnosis may be made.

Depression treatment is required when depressive symptoms are chronic and do not go away since some types of depression are slightly different or may arise in unusual situations.

Types of Depression

  • Persistent depressive disorder (also called dysthymia): is a depressed mood that lasts for at least two years. A person diagnosed with persistent depressive disorder may have episodes of major Depression along with periods of less severe symptoms, but symptoms must last for two years to be considered a persistent depressive disorder.
  • Psychotic Depression: occurs when a person has severe depression plus some form of psychosis, such as having disturbing false fixed beliefs (delusions) or hearing or seeing upsetting things that others cannot hear or see (hallucinations). The psychotic symptoms typically have a depressive “theme,” such as delusions of guilt, poverty, or illness.
  • Bipolar disorder: is different from Depression, but it is included in this list because someone with bipolar disorder experiences episodes of extremely low moods that meet the criteria for major Depression (called “Bipolar Depression”). But a person with bipolar disorder also experiences extreme high – euphoric or irritable – moods called “mania” or a less severe form called “hypomania.”
  • Postpartum Depression: is much more serious than the “baby blues” (relatively mild depressive and anxiety symptoms that typically clear within two weeks after delivery) that many women experience after giving birth. Women with postpartum Depression experience full-blown major Depression during pregnancy or after delivery (postpartum depression). The feelings of extreme sadness, anxiety, and exhaustion that accompany postpartum depression may make it difficult for these new mothers to complete daily care activities for themselves and/or their babies.
  • Seasonal affective disorder: is characterized by the onset of Depression during the winter months, when there is less natural sunlight. This Depression generally lifts during spring and summer. Winter Depression, typically accompanied by social withdrawal, increased sleep, and weight gain, predictably returns every year in seasonal affective disorder.

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Anxiety Fact Sheet

Anxiety Overview

A mental health condition marked by intense feelings of worry, anxiety, or fear that interfere with daily activities. Panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder are examples of anxiety disorders.
The inability to put aside worry, restlessness, and stress that is out of proportion to the severity of the incident are among the symptoms.
Counseling or medicine, including antidepressants, are used as forms of treatment.


Anxiety Symptoms

  • Behavioral: hypervigilance, irritability, or restlessness.
  • Cognitive: lack of concentration, racing thoughts, or unwanted thoughts.
  • Whole body: fatigue or sweating
  • Also common:  anxiety, excessive worry, angor animi, fear, insomnia, nausea, palpitations, or trembling

Anxiety Treatment

  • Support group: A place where those pursuing the same disease or objective, such as weight loss or depression, can receive counseling and exchange experiences.
  • Cognitive behavioral therapy: A conversation treatment that aimed to change the negative attitudes, actions, and feelings connected to psychiatric discomfort.
  • Counseling psychology: A subfield of psychology that handles issues with the self that are connected to work, school, family, and social life.
  • Anger management: To reduce destructive emotional outbursts, practice mindfulness, coping skills, and trigger avoidance.
  • Psychoeducation: Mental health education that also helps individuals feel supported, validated, and empowered
  • Family therapy: psychological counseling that improves family communication and conflict resolution.

Anxiety and Depression Statistics

It’s critical to understand the distinction between anxiety and depression. Anxiety, in its most basic form, is an excessive feeling of worry, whereas depression, in its most basic form, is an excessive feeling of worthlessness and hopelessness. It is conceivable for someone to experience depression and anxiety simultaneously.


6.8 million

GAD affects 6.8 million adults or 3.1% of the U.S. population, yet only 43.2% are receiving treatment.

Source: National Institute on Mental Health

19 million

19 million adults experience specific phobias, making it the most common anxiety disorder in America.  

Source: ADAA2020

17.3 million

Major depressive disorder affects approximately 17.3 million American adults or about 7.1% of the U.S. population aged 18 and older.

Source: National Institute of Mental Health


Wellbutrin And Anxiety: Wellbutrin Dosage For Anxiety

Wellbutrin for Depression: Wellbutrin Dosage for Depression and Anxiety

Is Wellbutrin for anxiety or depression? Wellbutrin is an antidepressant that can be used in both on- and off-label situations. Additionally, it could be referred to by the generic name bupropion.

Different ways in which medications might impact individuals. Wellbutrin has consequently occasionally been connected to anxiety. But even while it can make some individuals anxious, it can also help certain people with anxiety problems.

Continue reading to find out more about Wellbutrin’s relationship to anxiety as well as its advantages and disadvantages.

Can Wellbutrin Make You More Depressed or Anxious?

Shortly after beginning Wellbutrin, some people may have symptoms such as:

  • Anxiety
  • Feeling restless
  • Agitation
  • Excitement
  • Being unable to sleep (insomnia)
  • Shaking
Generalized anxiety disorder and depression can both have emotional and physical symptoms.
Wellbutrin for Depression: Generalized anxiety disorder and depression can both have emotional and physical symptoms.

Can Wellbutrin make depression worse? According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), these symptoms could occasionally be so severe during clinical trials that they required treatment with sedative or anti-anxiety medication. A small percentage of patients (2%) also quit taking Wellbutrin because of these anxiety-related side effects.

These side effects could result from Wellbutrin dosage being increased too soon. After starting Wellbutrin, if you start to have jitters or symptoms of anxiety, talk to your doctor.

Wellbutrin Anxiety: Wellbutrin for Anxiety and Depression

Is Wellbutrin good for depression? There isn’t much information on using Wellbutrin to treat anxiety problems, which may seem contradictory given that anxiety is one of the drug’s possible negative effects.

In older pilot research, bupropion XL (Wellbutrin XL dosage for depression and anxiety) was discovered to be equally effective at treating patients with generalized anxiety disorder as escitalopram, an SSRI, a different class of antidepressant (GAD).

This may imply that Wellbutrin might be a second or third-line treatment for GAD, but larger, more thorough trials are needed to prove this.

There is some proof that bupropion may aid in the treatment of panic disorder. In one case study, a patient with panic disorder responded better to bupropion at a dose of 150 milligrams per day.

Bupropion may be used in conjunction with other medications to treat panic disorder, according to anecdotal evidence. To know whether bupropion works for treating panic disorder, however, more studies are required, just like the GAD pilot study.

Signs Wellbutrin Is Working For Anxiety (Wellbutrin for Anxiety)

  • Your Moods and Feelings Start to Improve
  • You Find it Easier to Fall Asleep
  • You Feel More Interested in Your Hobbies and Activities
  • You’re More Able to Focus and Remember Things
  • Making Decisions No Longer Feels Impossible
  • You Have Fewer Physical Depression Symptoms
Ryan Zofay forming a circle and hugging friends.

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Wellbutrin for Depression and Anxiety: Wellbutrin Dosage for Depression and Anxiety

Wellbutrin is offered in three different formulations, and Wellbutrin dosing for depression (Wellbutrin and depression) varies for each version.

  • Immediate-release: The generic version of Wellbutrin (depression Wellbutrin), which goes by the name Wellbutrin, is an immediate-release drug. This indicates that it starts working soon after you take it. It can be taken up to three times each day due to how quickly it works. To treat MDD, this formulation is employed. Wellbutrin’s recommended starting dose is typically 100 milligrams (mg) given twice daily, with the possibility of increasing it to 100mg taken three times daily. The maximum dose is 150 mg given three times a day in a single dose.
  • Sustained-release: MDD is also treated with Wellbutrin SR, the sustained-release form. The usual starting dose for this medication is 150 mg once daily, with a potential rise to 150 mg twice daily. Up to 200 mg taken twice daily is the maximum dosage that can be added.
  • Extended-release: Wellbutrin XL is a medication that is taken once a day to treat MDD and ward off SAD. The usual starting dose is 150 mg once a day, and the highest daily doses of 300 mg or 450 mg are also permitted.

How Does Wellbutrin Work for Depression? Wellbutrin for Bipolar Depression

Wellbutrin for Depression: Living with bipolar disorder can be difficult because it is defined by the opposite moods of mania and depression, neither of which is healthy and can be extremely extreme. 

Wellbutrin is one of many antidepressants that are frequently used to treat depression in people with bipolar illness. Concerns exist about antidepressants and bipolar disorder. Phase switching, or the transition from depression to mania, is one of these issues. Mania can cause impulsive or dangerous behavior, so this can be a serious issue. According to studies, when used to treat bipolar disorder, Wellbutrin carries the same risk of causing phase shifting as the majority of other antidepressants.

By blocking the reuptake of the neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, Wellbutrin may work to lessen depressive symptoms and prevent depression.

Does Wellbutrin Help With Depression? Wellbutrin for Postpartum Depression (Wellbutrin for Anxiety)

Wellbutrin for Depression: Few research has examined the effectiveness of antidepressants for treating postpartum depression, despite the disease being common. If postpartum depression (PPD) is not treated, the mother is at risk for developing chronic depression, and her child’s well-being and development may suffer.

In an 8-week open-label trial of bupropion SR for PPD, eight female outpatients between the ages of 18 and 45 were included. All patients had Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) baseline scores of 17 or above and met DSM-IV criteria for severe depression with start within three months of birth. Those with the beginning of psychotic symptoms, depressive symptoms during pregnancy, or serious medical conditions were eliminated.

Zoloft vs Wellbutrin for Depression (Wellbutrin for Anxiety)

Wellbutrin for Depression: Effective medications for treating depression include Zoloft and Wellbutrin. It can come down to possible interactions and negative effects while deciding between the two. Compared to Wellbutrin, Zoloft frequently results in higher nausea and sexual side effects. However, Wellbutrin may be more likely to result in diarrhea and dry mouth.

Wellbutrin And Lexapro Together For Anxiety (Wellbutrin for Anxiety)

Wellbutrin Vs Lexapro for anxiety: Since Wellbutrin and Lexapro are believed to function differently, they may be combined. If your current medicine isn’t sufficiently controlling your depressive symptoms, you could occasionally be given two antidepressants at once.

Does Wellbutrin Treat Anxiety? Wellbutrin for Anxiety

The most typical conditions for which Wellbutrin, the brand name for bupropion hydrochloride, is prescribed include depression, bipolar disorder, and seasonal affective disorder. But rarely, doctors may also advise Wellbutrin for the management of specific forms of anxiety.

Wellbutrin For Anxiety And Weight Loss (Wellbutrin for Anxiety)

In contrast to other antidepressants that have not been demonstrated to have this effect, Wellbutrin is an antidepressant that is also used to aid in weight loss. Wellbutrin may be a useful medication for weight loss as numerous clinical investigations have shown that people who took it had decreased body weight.

Wellbutrin For ADHD And Anxiety (Wellbutrin for Anxiety)

Wellbutrin can help treat ADHD even if it is not a first-line treatment, especially if you also have concomitant illnesses like depression or anxiety. To determine if Wellbutrin is an appropriate option for you as part of your treatment for ADHD, talk it over with a healthcare professional.

Wellbutrin For Anxiety Dosage (Wellbutrin for Anxiety)

The dosage of this medication will vary depending on the patient. Observe your doctor’s instructions or the label’s instructions. The following details only the typical dosages of this medication. Unless your doctor instructs you to, do not alter your dose if it differs from the recommended one.

The strength of the medication determines how much of it you should take. Additionally, the medical condition for which you are utilizing the medication affects the number of dosages you take each day, the interval between doses, and the duration of treatment.

Wellbutrin XL For Anxiety: Wellbutrin XL Dosage For Anxiety (Wellbutrin for Anxiety)

The recommended starting dose for MDD is 150 mg once daily in the morning. After 4 days of dosing, the dose may be increased to the target dose of 300 mg once daily in the morning.

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When it comes to depression and generalized anxiety disorder, one clear similarity is the way they are treated.
Wellbutrin for Depression: When it comes to depression and generalized anxiety disorder, one clear similarity is the way they are treated.

Can Wellbutrin Cause Depression? Wellbutrin Causing Depression

Wellbutrin for Depression: Some persons who use bupropion (depression medication Wellbutrin) may become agitated, irritated, or exhibit other aberrant behaviors. Additionally, it could make some people more depressed or have suicidal thoughts and impulses. If you have difficulties sleeping, are easily angry, have a lot of energy, or start acting recklessly, let your doctor know right once.

Wellbutrin making depression worse: Also let your doctor know if you experience any abrupt or strong emotions, such as anxiety, rage, restlessness, violence, or fear. Inform your doctor as soon as possible if you or your caregiver experience any of these side effects. If you’re worried about the effectiveness of this medication on treating depression, you can search for Wellbutrin reviews for depression online.

You run the risk of having excessively high blood pressure while using this medication. This could result in headaches, vertigo, or impaired vision. Your blood pressure may need to be checked at home. Call your doctor as soon as possible if you believe your blood pressure is too high.

Wellbutrin Causing Anxiety (Wellbutrin for Anxiety)

Some people may experience anxiety when using Wellbutrin, particularly at first or following a dose increase. In some circumstances, medical professionals could advise reducing the dosage to help manage negative effects. But one shouldn’t change their medicine dosage without first getting approval from a doctor.

Wellbutrin Anxiety Side Effect: Wellbutrin Anxiety Side Effects (Wellbutrin for Anxiety)

Some people may experience anxiety when using Wellbutrin, particularly at first or following a dose increase. In some circumstances, medical professionals could advise reducing the dosage to help manage negative effects. But one shouldn’t change their medicine dosage without first getting approval from a doctor.

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Wellbutrin Dosage for Depression and Anxiety FAQs

  1. Does Wellbutrin Help With Anxiety? Is Wellbutrin Good For Anxiety? Does Wellbutrin Help Anxiety?

    Can Wellbutrin Help With Anxiety? Wellbutrin, also known as bupropion, is a well-known antidepressant with a strong record of success in lowering anxiety. Wellbutrin has a number of advantages over other anti-anxiety medications, including the absence of symptoms associated with mood-stabilizing drugs including weight gain and sexual side effects.

  2. What To Pair With Wellbutrin For Anxiety? Wellbutrin for Anxiety

    In addition to Wellbutrin, there are some other therapy alternatives you might try if your anxiety has gotten out of control and your doctor has prescribed the antidepressant such as exercise (Exercise has been shown to have an impressive effect on anxiety levels), meditation and aromatherapy.

  3. Can Wellbutrin Cause Anxiety? Does Wellbutrin Cause Anxiety?

    Wellbutrin increase anxiety (Wellbutrin increased anxiety): Some people may experience anxiety when using Wellbutrin, particularly at first or following a dose increase. In some circumstances, medical professionals could advise reducing the dosage to help manage negative effects.

  4. Is Wellbutrin good for social anxiety? Wellbutrin Social Anxiety

    Wellbutrin for social anxiety: The effectiveness of bupropion (Wellbutrin) in treating generalized social phobia has been studied. After 12 weeks of treatment, those who took this medication reported feeling very or very significantly better. In general, this medicine was well tolerated.

  5. What’s the Best Wellbutrin Combo For Anxiety? What To Take With Wellbutrin For Anxiety?

    A doctor could occasionally advise taking Wellbutrin along with an SSRI or SNRI drug. You might also be given a prescription for a quick-acting anti-anxiety drug, such as benzodiazepines or hydroxyzine, if you experience sudden episodes of anxiety or panic attacks as a result of taking Wellbutrin (Visteril).

  6. Does Wellbutrin Makes Anxiety Worse? Can Wellbutrin Make Anxiety Worse?

    Wellbutrin making anxiety worse: Some people may experience anxiety when using Wellbutrin, particularly at first or following a dose increase. In some circumstances, medical professionals could advise reducing the dosage to help manage negative effects. But one shouldn’t change their medicine dosage without first getting approval from a doctor.

  7. Is Wellbutrin Used For Anxiety? Will Wellbutrin Help With Anxiety?

    Does Wellbutrin work for anxiety? Wellbutrin, also known as bupropion, is a well-known antidepressant with a strong record of success in lowering anxiety. Wellbutrin has a number of advantages over other anti-anxiety medications, including the absence of symptoms associated with mood-stabilizing drugs including weight gain and sexual side effects.

  8. How Long Does Wellbutrin Take To Work For Anxiety?

    Within one to two weeks of starting the prescription, Wellbutrin may help with certain anxiety symptoms, such as those connected to depression or quitting smoking. Full symptom remission, however, might not happen for up to eight weeks.

Search We Level UP Anxiety and Depression Resources