Anxiety Disorder - What Are The Treatments?
An anxiety disorder may be characterized as a manifest of worry or by a set of anxious behaviors aimed at warding it off.
Although it is a normal experience in an ordinary life, it becomes a disorder with three basic patterns: general anxiety which is not caused by any stimulus, phobic disorder where fear is caused by one or more stimuli, and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) where anxiety occurs if relief is not experienced by compulsively responding to an obsessive thought or image.
Treatments of aforementioned can be in terms of medication, therapy or other complementary treatments methods.
Therapy: Several types of therapy are devised to treat an anxiety disorder: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Exposure Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Interpersonal Therapy, and Eye Movement and Desensitization and Reprocessing.
The first type deals with understanding and practicing constructive responses to anxiety, the second with reducing fear, the third involves commitment to change while entertaining anxious thoughts, the fourth includes meditation in the treatment process, the fifth involves small support group sessions, and the sixth involves perception of an anxiety stimulus in a less anxious way.
These therapy types involve gradual progression towards treating anxiety.
Medication: In the medical treatment of an anxiety disorder, five classes of medications are prescribed.
These are as follows: Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRIs), Benzodiazepines, Tricyclic Antidepressants, and Beta-Blockers.
SSRIs are used to prevent reabsorption of serotonin by nerve cells.
This permits for serotonin level to increase and improve mood.
SNRIs function in the same way as SSRIs but with an added ability to increase norepinephrine levels in the brain.
Both SSRI and SNRI are used as initial treatment options for anxiety.
Benzodiazepines manage the physical symptoms of anxiety including muscle relaxation.
Complementary Treatments: Going out of the bounds of conventional medicine, alternative treatments have their own testimony to prove in helping to treat an anxiety disorder.
These can be sought to complement current therapeutic or medical treatment for anxiety or be considered as an alternative.
Some complementary treatments are stress management and relaxation techniques, yoga, and acupuncture.
Although not as effective in treating depression, relaxation can help relieve the tension caused by anxiety.
Yoga integrates physical exercises, meditation sessions, breathing lessons, and philosophical overtones.
Needles inserted to the body shows evidence of modifying the flow of body energy with acupuncture.
Note that an anxiety disorder is an assembly of related conditions and is not a single disorder.
An individual with this disorder may exhibit reactions for no reason at all while another displays anxious responses specific to a situation.
While the options in seeking treatment for anxiety are present, an individual has to cultivate the will for self recovery.
Self-help options complement established treatment methods for an anxiety disorder like challenging one's negative thoughts and practicing healthy habits.
Challenging negative thoughts means acknowledging specific anxiety factors, worrying about them on a certain period only, and knowing that prolonged worry prevents life's enjoyment.
Although it is a normal experience in an ordinary life, it becomes a disorder with three basic patterns: general anxiety which is not caused by any stimulus, phobic disorder where fear is caused by one or more stimuli, and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) where anxiety occurs if relief is not experienced by compulsively responding to an obsessive thought or image.
Treatments of aforementioned can be in terms of medication, therapy or other complementary treatments methods.
Therapy: Several types of therapy are devised to treat an anxiety disorder: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Exposure Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Interpersonal Therapy, and Eye Movement and Desensitization and Reprocessing.
The first type deals with understanding and practicing constructive responses to anxiety, the second with reducing fear, the third involves commitment to change while entertaining anxious thoughts, the fourth includes meditation in the treatment process, the fifth involves small support group sessions, and the sixth involves perception of an anxiety stimulus in a less anxious way.
These therapy types involve gradual progression towards treating anxiety.
Medication: In the medical treatment of an anxiety disorder, five classes of medications are prescribed.
These are as follows: Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRIs), Benzodiazepines, Tricyclic Antidepressants, and Beta-Blockers.
SSRIs are used to prevent reabsorption of serotonin by nerve cells.
This permits for serotonin level to increase and improve mood.
SNRIs function in the same way as SSRIs but with an added ability to increase norepinephrine levels in the brain.
Both SSRI and SNRI are used as initial treatment options for anxiety.
Benzodiazepines manage the physical symptoms of anxiety including muscle relaxation.
Complementary Treatments: Going out of the bounds of conventional medicine, alternative treatments have their own testimony to prove in helping to treat an anxiety disorder.
These can be sought to complement current therapeutic or medical treatment for anxiety or be considered as an alternative.
Some complementary treatments are stress management and relaxation techniques, yoga, and acupuncture.
Although not as effective in treating depression, relaxation can help relieve the tension caused by anxiety.
Yoga integrates physical exercises, meditation sessions, breathing lessons, and philosophical overtones.
Needles inserted to the body shows evidence of modifying the flow of body energy with acupuncture.
Note that an anxiety disorder is an assembly of related conditions and is not a single disorder.
An individual with this disorder may exhibit reactions for no reason at all while another displays anxious responses specific to a situation.
While the options in seeking treatment for anxiety are present, an individual has to cultivate the will for self recovery.
Self-help options complement established treatment methods for an anxiety disorder like challenging one's negative thoughts and practicing healthy habits.
Challenging negative thoughts means acknowledging specific anxiety factors, worrying about them on a certain period only, and knowing that prolonged worry prevents life's enjoyment.
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