Treatment of Anxiety
The most effective treatments for anxiety are behavioral. Such treatments often
involve gradually exposing patients to the situations they fear.
Anxiety therapy might also focus on changing distorted
thought patterns that underlie the condition. Drugs may help patients control their
anxiety during treatment, but don't usually cure the condition. Increasingly,
researchers are finding that mindfulness meditation is a successful technique that helps
lessen anxiety.
Anxiety is a life altering issue.
That's why effective treatment choices are necessary. Like other mental health
conditions, there needs to be some type of intervention - you cannot cure
anxiety by wishing it away or waiting it out. You need something effective, and
something that has been proven to generate results.
There are thousands upon thousands
of treatment options available for those suffering from anxiety. Some work much
better than others. In this article, we're going to break down the treatments
for anxiety into four main types:
Psychotherapy
Pharmacological Treatments (Medications)
Complementary Treatments
Lifestyle Changes
These methods of treating anxiety
are not mutually exclusive. Ideally, for a fast and steady recovery, it's best
to explore all of your available options rather than limit yourself to a single
choice. Medicine is unlikely to cure anxiety alone, and even therapy may not
provide you with the complete support you need if you don't partner it with
effective lifestyle changes.
There's also no magic answering for
curing anxiety. But there are very effective treatments - everyone, no matter
how severe your anxiety, can fight it. All you need is commitment, and the
willingness to keep trying. Below, you'll find several of the available options
for your anxiety.
Choosing From the Uncommon and
Common Treatments
It's important to
remember that some treatments are more effective than others. There is no harm
in utilizing a less traditional treatment, but remember that many of the more
popular and common treatments have years of research behind them. If you do decide
to try a less conventional treatment and it doesn't work, don't forget that
many of the conventional treatments are still effective and available for you.
That said, part of
anxiety recovery is about excitement and commitment to the possible cures
available. So there is no harm in trying a less conventional treatment if you
strongly believe it will work. Keep an open mind, and you may find that
something with less research still provides you with the relief you need.
Psychological Treatments for Anxiety Disorders
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT is the king of
psychological treatments. It's received countless research papers comparing it
to placebo, and very often is found to be highly effective. CBT utilizes
behavioral research and cognitive functioning to challenge assumptions and
thoughts and alter behaviors in a way that often provides results.
There is more than
one type of CBT, but the techniques have a similar focus. By addressing the
causal relationships between your thoughts and your anxiety/behaviors,
cognitive behavioral therapy seeks to sever the thoughts and behaviors that
lead to anxiety and provide you with tools to relieve your troubling emotional
reactions.
Psychoanalysis
Psychotherapy from
a psychodynamic perspective is a way of analyzing anxiety by looking at the
history of the individual. While CBT often focuses on the present (although
understanding the past does play a role), psychoanalysis focuses almost
exclusively on the past, believing that most disorders are the result of problems
with early childhood, and the relationships a person has with their
mother/father.
Psychodynamic
theorists, the most famous of whom was Sigmund Freud, believed that conflicts
within the conscious and the subconscious, as well as defense mechanisms and
familiar relationships all create anxiety disorders, and by relating to the
therapist and bringing this issues to the surface, the individual will free
themselves of their burdens, and ultimately stop experiencing anxiety.
Like CBT, there are
several types of psychoanalysis, many of which were founded by students of
Freud. Psychoanalysis has lost favor in the psychological world, because
studies have shown only a modest improvement in psychological symptoms when
compared to placebo - far below that of CBT - but it still remains an
influential tool in psychological thinking, and many people continue to find it
beneficial.
Systemic
Therapy
Systemic therapy is
less well known, but has been growing in popularity over the last several
decades. Unlike other forms of therapy that look at the individual on a
personal level, systemic therapy believes that anxiety disorders are the result
of a system of relationships that a person has with others.
It's a
present-focused therapy, unlike psychodynamic, and tries to identify problems
in your relationship patterns with friends, family, and even your workplace. It
attempts to locate relationships that contribute to tension, and manage your
anxiety by changing the way you relate to others.
Anxiety has many
different causes, so it's likely that Systemic therapy works better for some
than others, and research into this method of therapy is ongoing, but there is
reason to believe that it may be effective - especially if that anxiety is
affecting you or caused by social cues.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
(EMDR)
EMDR is an
exploratory therapy with some controversy. It's not used for every type of
anxiety either. EMDR is unlikely to be beneficial for generalized anxiety
disorder or panic disorder, but may be beneficial as a treatment for
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or anxiety that results from some type of
trauma. It may also be useful for phobias, although research into that area is
ongoing.
EMDR is based on
the theory that anxiety symptoms surface when traumatic experiences are
inadequately stored in the brain, causing poorly processed psychological coping
mechanisms. It focuses on the idea that if these memories are stored correctly,
anxiety will be eliminated or reduced. Behaviors in EMDR therapy include moving
the eyes from side to side, tapping on the body, and more.
Somatic Experiencing
Somatic
experiencing is another interesting form of psychotherapy developed by Dr.
Peter Levine. He likened many of the responses in those that have experienced
trauma to the reactions by animals in the wild in life threatening situations.
This type of
therapy method seeks to relieve some of the sensations of physical tension that
are frozen in the body for years after trauma. The doctor believes that when
experiencing intensely frightening events, the automatic nervous system is
heightened but not relieved after the traumatic event has passed. So this
approach tries to reduce PTSD by helping patients become more aware of their
bodies and the sensations that are perceived through them.
There are other
forms of talk therapy that are popular as well. Some of these have empirical
evidence, while others are more experimental. They include:
Humanistic
Therapy
Existential Therapy
Hypnotherapy
Family and Marital Therapy
Gestalt Therapy
Play Therapy (for children)
Pastoral Counseling
Goal Oriented Therapy
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (form of CBT)
Dance Therapy
Art Therapy
Biofeedback
Do your research
before choosing any therapeutic technique. Many of these have not received very
much research into their effectiveness (CBT, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and
Marital Therapy have received strong research) while others are more
experimental, and some may even be pseudoscience (fake science that is no more
effective than placebo). Decide which ones you're comfortable trying and never
be discouraged if they don't work as you expected. Not every type of therapy
works for everyone, and sometimes all you need is a change.
Pharmacological Treatments
for Anxiety Disorders
Most modern psychologists
and researchers agree that no one should depend solely on
pharmacological/medicinal treatments for anxiety. There are several reasons for
this. First, many drugs have side effects that make it unhealthy to take them
for the rest of your life. Second, they don't teach coping strategies, and they
can actually make it harder to cope in the future as you forget your original
coping ability and depend too much on the medications.
That is not to say
medications are inherently bad, however. Some are very effective for short term
anxiety relief, and those that need something to help them get through an
immensely difficult time. But regardless of whether or not you decide to take
any medication, make sure that you're partnering it with some other type of
behavioral treatment, like talk therapy or another option. Otherwise, a
medicinal anxiety treatment may make it harder to reduce your anxiety in the
future.
Below is a chart of
common anxiety medications used to treat anxiety disorders?
Complementary Anxiety
Treatment Techniques
Complementary
treatments are anxiety treatments that can be used in addition to therapy, or
whatever other type of treatment option you decide to use. In a way, they're
designed to simply help you manage your personal anxiety. You can do these
without therapy if you like, and in some cases they may help you find relief.
Or you can partner them with some other anxiety reduction option.
Examples of these
complementary techniques include:
1. Relaxation Techniques/Strategies It can be hard to relax with
anxiety. But there are several strategies that you can implement to calm your
mind at body, at least slightly. Some examples of these include deep breathing,
visualization, progressive muscle relaxation (great for muscle tension),
meditation, and many others. These aren't going to cure anxiety on their own,
and they can be tough to master, but once you've gotten used to them they can
reduce your anxiety in the moment, and make it easier to calm yourself during
anxiety attacks.
2. Exercise
Experts always talk about exercise in terms of its health benefits. But
research clearly suggests that regularly engaging in physical exercise will not
only promote your physical health - it will also improve your psychological
health. In fact, many studies have linked inactivity to higher levels of
anxiety. Exercise burns stress hormones, increases production of endorphins,
relaxes muscles and anxiety symptoms, and more. It's one of the most beneficial
things you can do for your stress.
3. Nutritional Supplements- There are several vitamins and
nutritional supplements that may be valuable for those dealing with anxiety as
well. Some research has suggested that vitamin imbalances, like magnesium
deficiency, may contribute or even cause anxiety symptoms, so there is evidence
to suggest that improving your nutritional intake may be valuable. Contact your
doctor to talk with them about supplements that may be useful.
4. Dietary Changes Similarly, there is evidence that some components of
the modern diet, such as refined sugars, may contribute to the strength of your
anxiety symptoms. Removing fried foods, refined sugars, and excess caffeine
from your diet may all be useful for combating anxiety.
5. Herbal Supplements Never take herbal supplements and
anxiety medications at the same time, and always talk to your doctor before
trying an herbal remedy. But kava, valerian, and passionflower - these are all
herbs that have been linked to treating anxiety, some of which may be as
powerful as modern medicines.
Other strategies
include acupuncture, prayer, and aromatherapy. There are also more
untraditional strategies out there that may also be effective, but use them
with caution.
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