Anxiety Treatment

Anxiety treatment can include medications, specific types of psychotherapy, or a combination of both. It can take time to see the results of treatment, so give it a fair chance before giving up or switching to a different option. Also, some medications used for anxiety treatment must be tapered off slowly under your doctor's guidance and should not be stopped abruptly.

 

Anxiety Treatment: An Introduction

Effective anxiety treatment has been developed for each of the different anxiety disorders. In general, two types of anxiety treatment are available for an anxiety disorder:
 
  • Medication
  • Specific types of psychotherapy (sometimes called "talk therapy").
     
Both types of anxiety treatment can be effective for most disorders. The choice of one or the other, or both, depends on the patient's and the doctor's preference, and also on the particular anxiety disorder. For example, only psychotherapy has been found effective for treating specific phobias.
 
When choosing a therapist for anxiety treatment, you should find out whether medications will be available if needed.
 

Evaluating the Circumstances Before Anxiety Treatment

Before anxiety treatment can begin, the doctor must conduct a careful evaluation to determine:
 
  • Whether your symptoms are due to an anxiety disorder
  • Which anxiety disorder(s) you may have
  • What other conditions may be present.
     
Anxiety disorders are not all treated the same, and it is important to determine the specific problem before embarking on a course of anxiety treatment. Sometimes, alcoholism or some other coexisting condition will have such an impact that it is necessary to treat it at the same time or before treating the anxiety disorder.
 
If you have been treated previously for an anxiety disorder, be prepared to tell the doctor what anxiety treatment you tried. If it was a medication, what was the dosage, was it gradually increased, and how long did you take it? If you had psychotherapy, what kind was it, and how often did you attend sessions?
 
Some people who undergo anxiety treatment believe they have "failed" the treatment, or that the anxiety treatment has failed them, when, in fact, it was never given an adequate chance.
 
When you undergo anxiety treatment, you and your doctor or therapist will be working together as a team. Together, you will attempt to find the approach that is best for you. If one anxiety treatment doesn't work, the odds are good that another one will. And new anxiety treatments are continually being developed through research. So don't give up hope.
 
(Anxiety Treatment Continued: Page 2)
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Written by/reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD