Dealing With Severe Anxiety Disorder
Anxiety symptoms can be a hindrance with daily life. It is important to get treatment and relief.
Traumas, including physical or emotional abuse, or neglect, can cause anxiety. As do certain life events like chronic health issues and stress.
Counseling (also known as psychotherapy) helps you change negative thoughts that trigger a variety of anxiety and stress. The most commonly used type of psychotherapy that is used to combat anxiety is cognitive behavioral therapy.
Medicines
For a lot of people taking medication, it's an effective way to minimize symptoms alongside therapy and lifestyle adjustments. There isn't one medicine that is suitable for all. It is crucial to find the right medication for you. Your MDVIP provider will discuss your anxiety-related symptoms, medical history, and goals with you to determine the most appropriate treatment option for you.
Benzodiazepines are fast-acting drugs which affect gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in your brain, which helps to reduce the overexcited part of your brain, and promote peace. They are typically prescribed for short-term use, like when panic attacks or other overwhelming anxiety occurs. The most common examples are Xanax (alprazolam), Klonopin (clonazepam) and Valium (diazepam).
Antidepressants can combat depression, but they're often employed to treat anxiety disorders as well. They work by regulating the levels of chemicals in your brain--or neurotransmitters--like serotonin and norepinephrine. These medications are used to treat anxiety disorders of all kinds, but more often GAD, PDA, and SAD.
A different type of antidepressant can be prescribed for anxiety disorders, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibits (SSRIs). They are prescribed for mild-to moderate anxiety disorders and have shown to be effective using controlled, randomized studies.
If you suffer from severe anxiety disorders you may require an additional medication, such as an SSRI or a tricyclic antidepressant. These are typically prescribed for patients who haven't responded to other treatments. The patient should be closely to be monitored for depression or sedation as a side effect.
If you don't get relief from a SSRI, SNRI or monoamine oxidase A inhibitor doctor might suggest adding one. These are generally only recommended when other treatments have failed, and they can be very beneficial in relieving symptoms of SAD. Quetiapine, and agomelatine are two typical examples.
It's important to remember that a medication isn't a cure, and should be taken under a doctor's supervision. Always discuss with your doctor about the risks and benefits of any medication. This includes potential side effects. It's important to ask your doctor about scheduling follow-up appointments prior to your first visit. The anxiety can get worse over time, and routine appointments with your physician are essential to reducing anxiety symptoms over the long run.
Counseling
Talk therapy (or psychotherapy) is a crucial part of treatment for anxiety disorders. A trained therapist will show you how to modify negative thoughts, emotions and behaviors that can cause symptoms.
There are a variety of psychotherapy that include cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). This approach is well-studied and the most effective method for treating anxiety disorders . Your therapist could suggest other treatments such as mindfulness-based acceptance and commitment therapy or exposure therapy.
Cognitive therapy focuses on your negative thoughts patterns that cause anxiety. It teaches you to challenge these negative thoughts and replace them by more real positive, positive thoughts. Often, these thought patterns originate through childhood experiences and can be difficult to break on your own.
If your symptoms are severe, they could affect your daily routine and make it difficult to complete your work or participate in social activities. Your therapist will determine the frequency of your anxiety-related symptoms, and how long they last, and how intense they are. They will also look for any other mental issues which could be contributing to the symptoms, such a addiction or depression.
Talk therapy sessions are typically held face-to-face with a qualified mental health professional, such as a psychologist or psychiatrist. Your therapist can observe your facial expressions and body language to better understand your reactions to certain situations. This can help them determine if your symptoms are due to a specific trigger, such as an ongoing stressful situation or traumatic experience.
Anxiety is a very common condition that can affect any person. Getting the right diagnosis and beginning a treatment plan will help alleviate your symptoms and enhance your quality of life. Remember that beating anxiety disorders requires time and commitment but the effort will be worth it in the end. The treatment plan you have for anxiety should include a solid network of support and healthy lifestyle habits and relaxation techniques. The more you use these techniques, they will become more effective.
Therapy for Exposure
If you are suffering from a phobia or fear, you tend to connect certain situations or objects with negative consequences. In order to overcome this fear and stop avoiding situations that cause anxiety or phobias, your mental health professional may utilize exposure therapy. This technique involves the exposure of you to anxiety-inducing objects or situations for a predetermined period of time in a safe environment. Over time, you will learn that the feared incident or object isn't dangerous and you can cope.
Your therapist will begin with situations or items that don't cause high levels of anxiety and slowly move up to more challenging ones. This is called "graded-exposure." In the first session, for instance, if the therapist is aware that you are scared of snakes, they'll show you images of them. In the subsequent sessions, you'll be asked to look at an image of a venomous snake behind glass before touching the real snake. Some people find this type of exposure uncomfortable, so a therapist will use interoceptive (or tactile) exposure. This involves deliberately triggering physical sensations such as shaking or pounding heart and educating the patient that these feelings, while uncomfortable, aren't harmful.
It is important to work with someone who has expertise and training in this type of therapy. If you don't, you'll end up staying away from the things that trigger your anxiety, and this could actually cause the symptoms to get worse. Instead your therapist can help you confront the fears and anxieties that are keeping you from living life to the fullest.
Your therapist might also employ cognitive behavioral therapy to tackle the root belief that causes your anxiety. For example, if you think that your anxiety is an indicator of weakness, they will assist you in identifying and challenging these beliefs. Your therapist will also instruct you on breathing and relaxation techniques, as well as other coping strategies to lessen the negative effects these beliefs can have on your life. They will also provide you with information about the physiology behind the fight-or-flight reaction and how it is caused by anxiety disorders.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a contemplative practice that encourages the willingness to experience, including unpleasant emotions. Anyone can practice it. It is not a religion nor an unreligious belief system. While mindfulness is often associated with Buddhism some practitioners claim that the practice has its roots in a variety of ancient contemplative traditions.
Research has shown that mindfulness meditation can improve mood and self-regulation, as well as the ability to recognize and respond to maladaptive patterns. It has also been shown to alter the brain's structure and circuits involved in processing emotions. These changes are correlated with less activity in the Default Mode Network, which is implicated in the aetiology of anxiety.
The most popular secular mindfulness programs are Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). These types of clinical interventions typically involve eight weekly classes lasting about two to three hours each. More recent research has focused on a shorter, less intensive mindfulness training. These shorter interventions can also be taught by a qualified psychotherapist without the assistance of an instructor in meditation or a group leader.
These studies have found that short mindfulness exercises can have a positive impact on thoughts of ruminative. Short mindfulness training can lower anxiety and can also reduce the duration of ruminative thought processes. This research supports the idea that mindfulness training can be beneficial in the treatment of GAD.
In addition to its direct effects on emotional reactivity as well as the ability to control attention, mindfulness has been found to reduce depression and increase positive mood and well-being. This is due in large part to the effects on negative thinking patterns and the reduction of symptoms of self-criticism and rumination.
A small study conducted at the University of Waterloo found that 10 minutes of meditation can help disrupt the ruminative thought patterns that contribute anxiety. In the study, 82 anxious participants were asked to complete a computer task where they were constantly interrupted. Half of the participants listened to a 10-minute meditation audio and the other half were listening to an audio book.
The results of the study revealed that those who listen to the mindfulness audio had significantly lower levels of anxiety than those in the other two groups. This suggests that mindfulness training is a viable option to treat GAD, but further research is required to determine the specific techniques that work. Future studies should examine the effects of mindfulness-based training and other psychotherapeutic treatments.