How Is Anxiety Treated?
How Is Anxiety Treated?“When it got to the point where I felt like I was going to commit suicide, I knew that I neededprofessional help.”Claudine Jackson has an anxiety disorder, complicated by depression and PTSD. And she’s not alone. Infact, nearly 1 in 5 men and women in the United States lives with mental illness. And anxiety disorders arethe most common. With treatment and support from a social club designed specifically for people with mentalillness, Claudine now has her life on track.“So, I did seek out professional help and I stopped isolating, started coming to the Grand Avenue Cluband start associating myself with people who suffer from the same condition. And that made medevelop into raising my self-esteem and motivated me to get out in that community and stop hidingfrom my condition.”Like many people who have generalized anxiety disorder, Claudine benefitted from Talk Therapy. One of themost effective types of Talk Therapy is known as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT.“CBT is a treatment approach that has two primary goals. The first goal is to help an individual identifyways that they're thinking and ways that they're behaving that are unhelpful to them and that aremaintaining whatever problem they’re experiencing. The second step of cognitive behavioral therapyis trying to find healthier more adaptive replacements.”Molly Hass found CBT to be critical to managing her social anxiety disorder. One “tool” she learned wasmental reframing, which means taking a negative emotion or stressful situation and thinking of it in a differentway.“So, then it was ok, ‘we’re going to focus on what's most likely going to happen.’ Or it might be like‘what's the worst that could happen? Let's play that out. Like how will that affect you?’ to kind of showyou that you're probably going to be OK even if the worst that you think is going to happen happens.”Learning and then practicing those CBT skills is a great tool for managing anxiety.“It will be a relatively short period of time that we work together to help you develop mastery of theseskills. But once you have reached that level you are going to know what to do in your life and applythese skills in difficult situations going forward.”Exposure Therapy, another type of CBT can help a person safely confront an object or situation that ismaking them anxious or fearful. Along with Talk Therapy, medications are also commonly prescribed to treatanxiety disorders.“The number one treatment of anxiety is an SSRI, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. And theyhelp both depression and anxiety in a safe and consistent way.”“That increase in serotonin makes us feel more comfortable, less worried, and therefore we are lessanxious. It tends to take a little while to get that anti-anxiety effect. It's not the first day that you takeThis program is for informational purposes only. Publisher disclaims all guarantees regarding the accuracy, completeness,or suitability of this video for medical decision making. For all health related issues please contact your healthcare provider.PRG54617A EN HowIsAnxietyTreated.pdf© The Wellness NetworkPage 1 of 2How Is Anxiety Treated?the pill it gets better, but, with time, those medications help to reduce your anxiety and help you feelbetter.”Besides SSRIs, SNRIs, or Serotonin Norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, are another antidepressant used totreat anxiety. Anti-anxiety medications like Benzodiazepines might also be used, and Beta-Blockers canhelp with physical symptoms, such as a rapid heartbeat or trembling. Each person and each anxietydisorder is different. So, it may take some trial and error—and some time—to find what medications workbest for you.“All medications have side effects and for some people they can be minimal. And for other people,they can be so overwhelming that they cannot use, they cannot keep using the drug.”Claudine says you need to be patient.“Sometimes it takes maybe one or two different types of meds for them to get your combination right.But when they get it right, it's going to be an amazing life for you.”Beyond medication and therapy, many people who suffer from an anxiety disorder find lifestyle changeshelp them manage.“Certainly, any kind of method that improves one's ability to relax turns out to be crucial. Meditationsometimes does that.”“Stress was the trigger that suggested I need to, you know, I need to up my exercise. I need tomeditate more often.”Jim Hill manages the stress of his generalized anxiety disorder, in part, with exercise.“Your respiration is better. Your blood flow is better. All the better. But the release of endorphins thatare the most wonderful natural drug your body produces that leaves you with no fogginesswhatsoever but makes you feel wonderful.”Positive lifestyle changes, medication and therapy can help someone with an anxiety disorder reclaim theirlife. Finding good support in family, friends or, in Claudine’s case, a social club for people with mental illnessalso makes a world of difference.“I started doing all kinds of volunteer work and just amazing things that helped me challenge myself and thethings that I was going through to let me know that I could still have personal growth and deal with my mentalillness on a normal level.”This program is for informational purposes only. Publisher disclaims all guarantees regarding the accuracy, completeness,or suitability of this video for medical decision making. For all health related issues please contact your healthcare provider.PRG54617A EN HowIsAnxietyTreated.pdf© The Wellness NetworkPage 2 of 2
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