The anti-anxiety medication Xanax has its advocates and skeptics. Still, there is no question that usage has risen in the US since its introduction to American consumers in 1981. Take Your Pills: Xanax provides an overview of the drug’s proliferation over the years, featuring interviews with medical professionals and academics who discuss the pros and cons. Directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker Blair Foster (George Harrison: Living in the Material World, Sinatra: All or Nothing at All), this documentary also shares personal accounts from a diverse group of people who use, or have used, Xanax.

A thematic continuation of the 2018 Netflix documentary Take Your Pills (directed by Alison Klayman) which looked at prescription stimulants like Adderall and Ritalin, Take Your Pills: Xanax presents a balanced and compassionate approach to understanding how and why Xanax has become so commonplace, and what this implies about the state of mental health in America.

When does Take Your Pills: Xanax come out? 

Watch it now on Netflix.

Where can I watch the trailer for Take Your Pills: Xanax?

Watch the official Netflix trailer for Take Your Pills: Xanax here:

Who appears in Take Your Pills: Xanax?

This documentary features interviews with prominent mental health experts Dr. Anna Lembke and Dr. Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, as well as Scott Stosse, the editor of The Atlantic magazine, other medical professionals, academics and Xanax users. Read this guide for more info.

What happens in Take Your Pills: Xanax?

This documentary begins with identifying the source of anxiety in the brain, its effect on the body and its purpose as an emotional response. This is followed by a look at the history of benzodiazepines, the group of anti-anxiety drugs that includes Xanax. The film also examines how societal changes have shaped perceptions of the drug and contributed to its use and abuse, with observations and insights from mental health experts as well as the experiences –– both negative and positive –– of those who have been prescribed Xanax.