"my wife uses xanax. she is bipolar ii. she has a lot of depression and anxiety but not much hypomania. she takes two 1mg when she is having a really bad day which is about every other day. it knock her out for about four hours. often times she will wake up and then about 4 hours later, she needs to take another xanex. it helps in emergencies but does nothing for the underlying cause of her severe depression and anxiety. i&#039;m glad it&#039;s there for emergencies though. i wish it did something to decrease the frequency of emergencies."