subject: Treating Anxiety Disorder – 3 Types of Therapy [print this page] Treating Anxiety Disorder 3 Types of Therapy
Treating anxiety disorder is highly effective for patients with good compliance to the psychotherapy and drugs prescribed. These treatments may be given singly or in combination. Although not cures for the disorder, these treatments are very effective in relieving the symptoms.
Psychotherapy is a very effective way of treating anxiety disorder, in some cases, even without the aid of drugs. Three types of psychotherapy are being used to successfully to treat the disorder. These are behavioral therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and psychodynamic therapy.
1. Behavioral therapy is aimed to modify anxiety response through relaxation techniques and exposure to the anxiety-provoking situation in a graded fashion. This way, patients are gradually desensitized and their anxiety is lessened.
2. Cognitive-behavioral therapy, on the other hand, focuses on tackling the presenting symptoms by making the patients understand their thinking patterns. This way, they can effectively determine what's wrong with their reactions and learn to react differently towards the cause.
3. Lastly, psychodynamic psychotherapy tries to uncover the meaning of the symptoms of this disorder. By doing so, it identifies the unconscious mental conflict, and through it, they are relieved and so are the symptoms.
Medications like antidepressants, mild tranquilizers, and anxiolytic drugs are commonly prescribed in treating anxiety disorders. Specifically, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors like Prozac, Luvox, Zoloft, and Paxil are frequently prescribed. Benzodiazepines namely: Xanax, Klonopin, Valium, Ativan, Serax, and Librium are also common drugs. Beta-blockers like Inderal and Tenormin can also help. Buspar, a mild tranquilizer is also effective. Tricyclic antidepressants and monoamine oxidase inhibitors are rarely prescribed due to their nasty side-effects but still remain effective in treating anxiety disorders.
With the wide variety of drugs used for these disorders, the physician may just shift a patient to another option if the first attempt proves ineffective. However, these medications often necessitate a number of weeks before the desired effects are met. That is why the patient's progress should be monitored by the physician regularly to determine if a change in dosage, shift to another drug, or combining two or is required.
The most effective treatment for these disorders is the combination of psychotherapy and medications. With the proper compliance, patients can rid themselves of the symptoms of anxiety disorder.
