Xanax is a household generic brand name medication successfully used for treating anxiety symptoms. Pfizer pharmaceuticals have been producing Xanax since 1995, but The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) approved this active ingredient in October 1981. Soon after, it was sold on the US market as an approved treatment for generalized anxiety disorders, panic attacks and anxiety. Another way it has risen to the top of the list is from the off-label success of treating sleeplessness and depression.