Many people who struggle with anxiety struggle in silence. Only about 37% of the people who have been diagnosed with some sort of anxiety disorder are actually in treatment. There are many reasons people do not seek treatment for anxiety issues. One reason might be that they do not understand what treatment would entail. Also, change in and of itself can cause anxiety. However, if anxiety issues are getting in the way of you or someone you love living life the way you want to, there are steps you can take to overcome those fears.
The first step is to get an accurate assessment. A physician, psychologist, or psychiatrist can provide a thorough evaluation. The assessment would most likely include an in-depth medical history, a family and mental health history, symptom checklist, and possibly some projective and objective standardized tests.
The treatment professional may recommend a specific type of drug therapy. Many of the drugs that were developed to treat depression have also been shown to be effective when used to treat anxiety issues. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) such as Prozac, Lexapro, Zoloft, Celexa, and Paxil can prescribed for OCD, PTSD, panic disorder, and social phobia. Effexor , a Selective Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitor (SNRI), is often prescribed to treat Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs) are also used to treat anxiety disorders. Doctors sometimes prescribe Marplan, Nardil, and Parnate. People who take MAOIs must avoid certain food and medicines that can interact with their medicine and cause dangerous increases in blood pressure. (More information on side effects can be obtained from your physician.) Some tricyclic antidepressants also work well for anxiety. Anafranil has been used to treat OCD. Tofranil is used for Generalized Anxiety Disorder and panic disorder.
Anti-anxiety medications have been developed that are used to specifically treat anxiety issues. Xanax is useful for both panic disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Ativan is helpful for panic disorder, and Klonopin is used for social phobia and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Buspar, is a newer anti-anxiety medication also used to treat Generalized Anxiety Disorder. “Beta-blockers, Inderal, which is used to treat heart conditions, can prevent the physical symptoms that accompany certain anxiety disorders, particularly social phobia.”
Psychotherapy is also often a part of treatment for anxiety issues/disorders. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a popular form of treatment for anxiety issues. CBT aims to change the thinking that supports the fears of the individual. Once the thinking is changed, it is hoped that the behavior changes. Take, for example, someone who has OCD that is focused on the fear of germs. A popular behavior (compulsive behavior) an individual with this fear engages in is frequent hand-washing. The person believes that if they wash his/her hands a certain number of times (sometimes 50 or more) he/she is free from germs and if they do not engage in hand-washing that number of times that he/she may have some kind of deadly disease and his/her anxiety level rise beyond a reasonable level. With cognitive-behavioral therapy, the therapy challenges the faulty ways of thinking, with the hopes that if the patient realizes that he/she will not die or have some untreatable disease if he/she doesn’t wash his/her hands that “magical” number of times, he/she will not have to engage in the extreme hand-washing to ease his/her anxiety.
A type of CBT, Systematic Desensitization, is often used to treat specific and social phobia. In cases of phobia, Systematic Desensitization slowly exposes the patient to the objects/situations that are feared. The exposures usually start with something small and moves to the object/situation that is feared the most. For example, if a person is afraid of snakes, the patient will talk about what sorts of things provoke the anxiety. It may involve looking at a picture of a snake in a book or on the Internet, watching a movie about a snake, or something else where the person is not in the presence of a snake. The last steps of the Systematic Desensitization may involve actually being in the presence of a snake (may even be behind glass at a zoo) or touching a snake. During each exposure the therapist/treatment professional is there to talk the patient through the anxiety they may be experiencing, often using deep muscle relaxation or breathing techniques. If the patient ever starts to become overwhelmed with the exposure to the feared stimuli, the treatment is stopped and the patient and therapist work to better manage the anxiety symptoms.
As with all decisions about your physical and mental health, it is important to seek the advice of a trained professional. Look for a psychiatrist, psychologist, counselor/therapist in your area that is licensed by your state board of professional regulations. Don’t be afraid to take the first step to helping relieve some of the stress caused by these issues. There are people and treatments available to help.
If you’ve been following through this series of three posts on anxiety disorders and would like to schedule time to speak with one of our counselors at Lotus Group, please give us a call at 317-572-5055.