Types of Anxiety Therapy

Types of Anxiety Therapy

It may be time to seek anxiety therapy if the level of anxiety you are feeling begins to have an impact on your daily life. Fortunately, there are quite a few different therapies to choose from. Here is an overview of a few.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, also known as CBT, is the term used to describe a method of psychotherapy incorporated into anxiety therapy treatments based on the idea that an individual’s thoughts are the primary cause of anxiety as opposed to any other outside factor. Patients seeking Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy usually begin to see positive results in a very short period of time. The course of treatment usually has a defined beginning and end date as opposed to other sorts of psychotherapy which last for indefinite periods of time.

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The goal of CBT is to help someone suffering from anxiety find ways to alter their beliefs and behaviors. An arachnophobic patient, for example, may feel intense anxiety because he believes that all spiders will cause him harm. CBT would, in this case, work to end the patient’s arachnophobia by proving that spiders will not cause harm to the patient. Of course, this treatment is only successful if the person suffering from arachnophobia learns the difference between harmless spiders and those that really are venomous.

CBT for patients seeking anxiety therapy works in a similar manner. The treatment methods used need to explore and address the factors that cause the patient’s attacks and then find ways to relax the patient when he is exposed to those triggers. Therapists use several different types of techniques to achieve this goal, including the creation of rational statements, meditation, and breathing exercises.

The Role of Medications in Anxiety Therapy

Gaining control of severe panic attacks may require the use of medication as part of the anxiety therapy regime. The medications used will fall into one of several different categories:

Doctors have found that clinical depression and anxiety disorders are often related. In these cases, the use of antidepressants has been found helpful. Often time treating the depression that is related to or causing feelings of anxiety will subsequently cause relief of the anxiety symptoms as well.

Beta blockers are most often used to treat the symptoms of hypertension (high blood pressure) and other heart conditions. The symptoms of a panic attack, such as rapid heartbeat and trembling, can often resemble heart symptoms and beta blockers are often incorporated into anxiety therapy to treat these as well.

A few anti-anxiety medications have been developed to specifically cater to patients undergoing anxiety therapy. One such medication is BuSpar, which is commonly used to treat Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). BuSpar takes up to two weeks to begin working and is used more often in cases where symptoms occur daily. Other medications, such as Benzodiazepines, are able to provide rapid relief and are only used when a patient is experiencing symptoms.

Never start or stop an anxiety medication without first consulting your physician. Your doctor will be able to determine the right dosage for your body and symptoms and, if your symptoms have dissipated, help you to determine if it’s time to end your anxiety therapy.