Thmbellina, I'm no expert, but Ambien is a sleeping aid. This is the first I've heard of it for anxiety disorder, unless someone has anxiety before bedtime.
Anyway, I totally agree with you, Ambien is bad stuff, and highly addictive. Coming off of it is pure hell. But if he was taking it along with other stuff, he would have passed out and not been able to drive.
How weird...Several people I know have taken Ambien and swear they would never take it again.
Hell, all I do is sleep.
I think it is probably quite common for anxious people to have trouble sleeping. Sleep problems was one of the reasons for getting my son on anti-anxiety meds. We probably would have been better off with ambien.
I have had a Dr recommend a dose of benedryl as a short term sleep aid (for me, not my son). It didn't work well for me.