Anxiety Treatment

Anxiety treatment usually involves both medication and behavioral therapy. Anxiety is becoming more and more prevalent in today’s society, and may be exacerbated by our 24-hour, nonstop world, in which we never get any downtime or time to relax, regroup, and regenerate.

This, plus our obsession with constantly needing to be busy, as illustrated by our pride in our ability to multitask, for example, as well as our propensity to use stimulants such as caffeine to keep going even when tired, may contribute to anxiety disorders.

Whatever it the source, anxiety disorders are prevalent in our society today, and their treatment is becoming more and more prevalent and important as more people suffer from them.

As stated before, anxiety treatment consists usually of medication and behavioral therapy used in conjunction.

Sometimes, people use behavioral therapy alone, but practitioners often prescribe antianxiety medication, such as benzodiazepines; benzodiazepines include Valium, Xanax, Klonopin, and Ativan.

Some anxiety treatments like benzodiazepines are long lasting, while others have a shorter duration.

However, all benzodiazepines have a propensity to be habit forming, and therefore are usually only used for short periods of time, to get people all over the initial “hump” with anxiety before behavioral therapy takes effect.

Antidepressant medications such as SSRIs and beta-blockers may also be effective for anxiety that is resistant to short-term drug treatment.

Behavioral therapy, such as immersion (putting the patient in progressively more challenging situations to “immerse” them in the situation that provokes anxiety, and forcing them to stay there, so that they can see that the anxiety will dissipate over time) is also very common and is very effective.

Patients suffering from anxiety may also be taught deep breathing techniques, since one trigger for anxiety may be feeling like one is suffocating.

Paradoxically, it may be the very inability to remember to take a deep breath that will help trigger an anxious episode, and remembering to take a deep breath may, in fact, circumvent the anxiety attack or make it much less severe.

Patients who suffer from anxiety attacks may also be taught to make certain lifestyle changes. For instance, removal or significant restriction of caffeine in the diet is a great help, and boosting nutrition while avoiding simple carbohydrates that can cause blood sugar spikes, crashes and fatigue may also help with anxiety attacks.

Teaching patients to balance their lives and make time for adequate rest and sleep, and adequate leisure as well as the usual focus of work and care of family, may also help alleviate anxiety symptoms.

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