Treating Anxiety Disorders:
Help With Treating Anxiety Disorders

A Google search on the topic will inform you that there are almost as many ways of treating anxiety disorders as there are anxiety disorder varieties and symptoms.

Prescription drugs; meditation; relaxation techniques; visualization; nutritional supplements; support groups; and either cognitive or desensitization therapy--each has its proponents as a means of treating anxiety disorders.

But one thing on which most experts in treating anxiety disorders agree is that, until the underlying causes for a person’s anxiety are uprooted, the disorder will remain.

Prescription drugs and nutritional supplements--especially Valerian root and Passion Flower--have been useful in treating anxiety disorders by relieving their accompanying symptoms. But symptom relief, while it may enable the anxiety disorder sufferer to function, is not an answer. Why?

First, many of the drugs used in treating anxiety disorders are habit-forming, and not acceptable for long-term use. And once they are discontinued, the anxiety symptoms will return in those who have not been actively pursuing other ways of treating anxiety disorders.

Finding a medical professional skilled in treating anxiety disorders, therefore, is paramount. If your doctor seems to think that your disorder can be eliminated simply with a prescription, look elsewhere. Don’t stop looking until you find someone who uses cognitive and behavioral therapies when treating anxiety disorders.

Cognitive therapy will require you to get in touch with the ingrained mental messages that feed your anxiety disorder. If you suffer from social anxiety disorder, for instance, you my not even realize that you expect to embarrass yourself in public situations, or that you assume people will be judging your every move.

But by going through cognitive therapy you will learn to both recognize when those beliefs are kicking in, and to counteract them with some positive self-talk. You’ll be able to do a much more realistic assessment of the threats in social situations, and eventually your anxiety disorder will have no more negative messages on which to sustain itself

If you undergo behavioral, or desensitization, therapy, your therapist will ask you to deliberately expose yourself to a threatening situation, just long enough that you think your symptoms are about to be triggered.

By removing yourself before disaster strikes, you begin the process of desensitization, and on your next try you will be asked to remain in the situation just a little longer. Your brain will eventually realize that there is no actual threat, and your anxiety disorder, in that situation at least, will no longer surface.

Treating anxiety disorders requires a multi-faceted approach, so don’t settle for a doctor who offers anything less!

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