Sorting Out Anxiety Treatment Options: Medication
As if anxiety itself weren't bad enough on its own, it presents new challenges and frustrations when we decide to face it and get rid of it once and for all. Probably because anxiety disorders are so prevalent (together, they are the most common of all mental illnesses), there's a plethora of proposed ways to treat anxiety. Trying to decide what is best for you is itself anxiety-provoking.
Anxiety Has Different Treatment Options
"Anxiety" is not a single, simple disorder. Anxiety disorders include generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and phobias. Happily, all are treatable. Also happily, all have multiple anxiety treatment approaches. Anxiety-reducing methods include such things as medication, psychotherapy, and various alternative approaches.
Of course, this is good news. But it can also be frustrating, confusing, and overwhelming. Sorting through the options and trying to make sense of it all can cause anxiety. Yes, trying to decide what treatment approach to take to help decrease anxiety is anxiety-provoking. What a kick in the pants.
In this first part of an audio series that helps sort through the various anxiety treatment options, I discuss anxiety medication: some common examples as well as pros and cons. Knowledge about what's out there can be a valuable tool in reducing your anxiety about what to do.
One very important caveat: this isn't a substitute for medical advice, nor is it a thorough description of the various anxiety medications. This is meant to provide a brief overview that can help shape discussion with a professional.
Note: Audio is not available. Below are pages that will help you research medication's place in anxiety treatment.
APA Reference
Peterson, T.
(2014, March 12). Sorting Out Anxiety Treatment Options: Medication, HealthyPlace. Retrieved
on 2024, November 21 from https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/anxiety-schmanxiety/2014/03/sorting-out-anxiety-treatment-options-part-1-medication
Author: Tanya J. Peterson, MS, NCC, DAIS
At all, the last one statement is very interesting and purposeful remark. Indeed psychiatric entities, as well as anxiety disorders, are invisible disease with many contradictions in general opinion. Unlike somatic disorders, anxiety has got complex etiopathogenesis, course, phenomenology and treatment approaches. So, it is very important to make understandable these perplex diagnostic and therapeutic peculiarity to patient with anxiety. It goes without saying, clinical psychiatrist should realize this hard work, in order to treat and manage successfully this overwhelming medical illness. But Your recommendation to be informed with the main psychiatric characteristics of anxiety show up great help in psychiatric treatment of this common mental difficulty. Otherwise, the prescription of any medication indicates non-therapeutic intervention, because patient don't comprehend the importance of ordinary medication. This therapeutic defect, on the other side compromises the compliance and adherence of patient to respective medication. In consequence, psychiatric treatment of anxiety should be holistic, where each explanation of real nature of this disorder has crucial impact of satisfactory treatment.
Thank you for your input, Dr. Musli. I enjoy reading what you have to say about various topics, and I have a feeling that your comments are quite helpful to many readers. I like your use of the term holistic. Because anxiety is multi-faceted, the treatment approach should be as well. Further, each individual is different, and the course of treatment should ideally be individualized. Again, thank you.