Treatment for Anxiety Disorder

Anxiety disorders are treatable since some effective treatment procedures are available through which you can be able to cure your mental disorder. Before doing anything, you should try self help techniques to get rid of anxiety disorder.

In severe cases, anxiety disorder is needed to be treated medically or with mental health professionals or psychologist otherwise it will also cause other disease such as depression, or other chronic disease.

However, all patients may not respond equally to the treatment procedures. For example: someone may require very less time such as after few weeks or months, whereas someone may require almost 1 year even sometimes more than 1 year. Moreover, if any person is experiencing more than 1 anxiety disorder or already has suffered from depressive illness, then treatment procedures might be complicated or may not bring quick result.

Therefore, treatment procedures must be executed according to the person’s previous or ongoing medical history. Though treatment procedures might vary according to the status of the patients, but, here are some standard and universal treatment procedures for anxiety disorder.

Psychotherapy: Psychotherapy is the most effective and useful treatment process of anxiety disorder. Treatment procedures of some psychotherapies are given below:

Cognitive Therapy: By receiving cognitive therapy you would be able to spot the reason and help the patients to control the contributing factors. This therapy will help you to transform your irrational and negative ideas and thoughts into positive and realistic one. Cognitive therapy is executed in different sessions.

Behavioral Therapy: According to the nature and status of the anxiety disorder, it helps the patients to lessen or change the undesired and harmful behaviors associated with these disorders by using some techniques. Behavioral therapy is also done in several sessions

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): It is a combination of cognitive and behavioral therapy. This therapy works for changing both ongoing thoughts and behaviors which are the outcomes of the anxiety disorder.

Sometimes psychotherapy also involves medicines. In such cases, patients are needed to be observant to the medicine taking whether there are side effects to any drugs, if so then he/she should inform the psychologist immediately who prescribe the medicines. Anxiety Disorder also could be treated with Group therapy, family focused therapy.

Antidepressant Medicines: Antidepressants are specially made for depression but also work to reduce the symptoms of anxiety disorder. Sometimes people do not continue the medicines if they do not get quick result. However, antidepressants always require some time to provide effective result.

Though various types of antidepressants medicines are available, but each type has side effects. If you observe any side effect after having the medicines then immediately inform your doctor. Never stop the medicines without consulting the doctor. It may also happen that sometimes the medicines take time to adjust with your body and then gradually bring positive results.

Among all antidepressants, Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants are most common and effective for anxiety disorders due to its low side effect. Following are the examples of SSRIs:

• Sertraline (Zoloft)
• Paroxetine (Paxil)
• Fluoxetine (Prozac)
• Escitalopram (Lexapro)
• Citalopram (Celexa)
• Venlafaxine (Effexor)

Benzodiazepines are also used to be most commonly prescribed medicines for anxiety. They are very helpful to release the symptoms. But now a day’s its use has been reduced and only prescribed for severe and short term anxiety disorder not for longer period of anxiety due to its addictive nature and it also can reduce the effect if you take them for more than a few weeks.

Here are some common benzodiazepines:

• Diazepam (Valium)
• Alprazolam (Xanax)
• Lorazepam (Ativan)
• Clonazepam (Klonopin)

Anxiety disorder often leads high blood pressure which can be overcomed by taking beta-blockers drugs. But Beta blocher drug sometimes responsible for mood shift.

Even other lots of useful antidepressants medicines like, MAOIs, tricyclics, buspirone are available which are prescribed by the mental health professional but they work depending on the condition and nature of the anxiety disorder.

Anxiety Management Training: The anxiety management trainings are basically very well organized and easy to learn. Anxiety disorder often disables the regular function of body and lead loss of work. Anxiety management training helps the patents to regain their normal function and to carry on their regular activities of life. Anxiety management training includes some effective techniques. These techniques help the patients to control anxiety thoughts and also helpful for reducing other difficulties such as poor concentration, restlessness, breathing problem and so on.

Anxiety Management Training basically involves the following:

• Relaxation techniques
• Problem-solving skills
• Group support
• Controlling anxiety thoughts
• Coping strategies
• Removal of Negative thoughts

Counseling: Talking treatment or counseling also might be proved very helpful especially in case of GAD.

Causes of Anxiety Disorder: Though scientists, mental health professionals, researchers could not able to find the exact cause of anxiety disorder. But there are some reasons for all mental illness. Anxiety disorder is one kind of mental disorder so anxiety disorder could be the outcome of negative social and unusual factors, environmental factor, medical factor, genetic factor and any stressful event sometimes other general illness also lead anxiety disorder which will affect the mental and physical stage of any person. Such as heart disease or diabetes can cause chemical imbalances in the body function and can lead anxiety disorder since mood order is generally directed according to the brain chemistry and chemical imbalance which affect the brain chemistry. Moreover, stress of severe illness, side effect of medicines also can cause anxiety disorder. Another common reason can be genetic factor. People often inherited the anxiety disorder from their ancestors or parents. But it does not mean that every child will inherit the anxiety disorder or genetic is the only factor which contributes in the anxiety disorder.