Once you have been diagnosed with anxiety, there are a number of ways that the doctor may try to treat the condition. One of the most common initial treatments offered is cognitive behavioural therapy (cbt), which helps you to understand your problems, and the triggers allowing you to control the condition better.
Cbt will involve a series of meetings with a specialist over a period of months that will help you to understand the source of the negative feelings. Other methods of treatment include mindfulness training , which aims to make you more aware of your feelings, and when you are beginning to feel anxious, once you have achieved this understanding, controlling the feelings can become easier, and you will learn methods of allowing yourself to calm down in a situation where the anxious feelings are beginning to rise.
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Benzodiazepines are sedatives indicated for anxiety, epilepsy, alcohol withdrawal, and muscle spasms. Benzodiazepines demonstrate short-term effectiveness in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder and can help with sleep disturbances. A doctor may prescribe these drugs for a limited period to relieve acute symptoms of anxiety. However, long-term use of these medications is discouraged because they have a strong sedative effect and can be habit-forming. Also, taking benzodiazepines while also engaging in psychotherapy such as pe can reduce the effectiveness of exposure therapy. Some well-known brand names are librium, xanax, valium, and ativan.
Severity of symptoms and a person’s ability to cope separate everyday worries or anxious moments from anxiety disorders. National surveys estimate nearly one in five americans over 18, and one in three teens ages 13 to 18, had an anxiety disorder during the past year. If anxiety is persistent, excessive, or routinely triggered by situations that aren’t an actual threat, tell your doctor, who can discuss treatment options or refer you to an experienced mental health professional.
A person can support anxiety management with several types of medication. Medicines that might control some of the physical and mental symptoms include antidepressants , benzodiazepines, tricyclics, and beta-blockers. A doctor may prescribe these for certain people with anxiety, but they can be highly addictive. These drugs tend to have few side effects except for drowsiness and possible dependence. Diazepam, or valium, is an example of a commonly prescribed benzodiazepine. Antidepressants these commonly help with anxiety, even though they also target depression. People often use serotonin reuptake inhibitors (ssri), which have fewer side effects than older antidepressants but are likely to cause jitters, nausea, and sexual dysfunction when treatment begins.
Types of Anxiety Disorders
A phobia is an intense fear of—or aversion to—specific objects or situations. Although it can be realistic to be anxious in some circumstances, the fear people with phobias feel is out of proportion to the actual danger caused by the situation or object.
People with a phobia:
may have an irrational or excessive worry about encountering the feared object or situation
take active steps to avoid the feared object or situation
experience immediate intense anxiety upon encountering the feared object or situation
endure unavoidable objects and situations with intense anxiety
there are several types of phobias and phobia-related disorders:
specific phobias (sometimes called simple phobias): as the name suggests, people who have a specific phobia have an intense fear of, or feel intense anxiety about, specific types of objects or situations.
Several types of medications are used to help relieve symptoms, depending on the type of anxiety disorder you have and whether you also have other mental or physical health issues. For example: certain antidepressants are also used to treat anxiety disorders. An anti-anxiety medication called buspirone may be prescribed. In limited circumstances, your doctor may prescribe other types of medications, such as sedatives, also called benzodiazepines, or beta blockers. These medications are for short-term relief of anxiety symptoms and are not intended to be used long term. Talk with your doctor about benefits, risks and possible side effects of medications.
Learn more about anxiety disorders, including types, causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.
Causes and Risk Factors
Some things also make you more likely to develop an anxiety disorder. These are called risk factors. Some risk factors you can’t change, but others you can. Risk factors for anxiety disorders include: history of mental health disorder. Having another mental health disorder, like depression , raises your risk for anxiety disorder. Childhood sexual abuse. Emotional, physical, and sexual abuse or neglect during childhood is linked to anxiety disorders later in life. Trauma. Living through a traumatic event increases the risk of posttraumatic stress disorder (ptsd), which can cause panic attacks. Negative life events. Stressful or negative life events, like losing a parent in early childhood, increase your risk for anxiety disorder.
The risk factors for the different types of anxiety disorders can vary. For example, gad and phobias are more common in women, but social anxiety affects men and women equally. There are some general risk factors for all types of anxiety disorders, including: certain personality traits, such as being shy or withdrawn when you are in new situations or meeting new people traumatic events in early childhood or adulthood family history of anxiety or other mental disorders some physical health conditions, such as thyroid problems or arrhythmia.
When you experience symptoms of anxiety, they can manifest as physical symptoms such as: dizziness child maltreatment prevention mental health programs as parents, you can communicate openly and honestly with your child while ensuring they’re making healthy decisions. To learn more about how to support your child’s mental health,. In addition, in cases of children and teens experiencing anxiety in response to something happening within their family or in their home, it’s a good idea to get family therapy. This is important especially because children and teens may not find it so easy to talk about their feelings or be aware of their anxiety.
Patients with anxiety or depression sometimes find that combining psychotherapy with medication offers the most complete relief. A randomized controlled trial, the stepped care for affective disorders and musculoskeletal pain (scamp) study, suggests that a combination approach might also work for people suffering pain in addition to a psychiatric disorder. The trial enrolled 250 patients with chronic pain in the lower back, hip, or knee. Participants also had at least moderate depression, as measured by a standard clinical instrument. One group was assigned to 12 weeks of antidepressant therapy followed by a 12-week pain self-management intervention based on principles of cbt.
There are a variety of ways to cope with anxiety. It can be helpful to combine treatment techniques when you have anxiety. For example, you might try relaxation techniques or meditation at home, prayer, work with a professional counselor, take medication to treat your anxiety, and/or participate in a support group. Talk with your health care team to find the best options for you.