Taking a Fresh Approach to Treating Anxiety

Anxiety disorders affect millions of Americans every year. There are generally a number of treatments that are available to these individuals for helping them begin overcoming anxiety. This article will cover some of the advantages and disadvantages of each treatment option.

One method of addressing an anxiety conditions is to begin taking prescription drugs as directed by a psychiatrist. These medications are typically any one of the benzodiazepine class of drugs, examples of which include Xanax and Ativan. These medications work best on episodic anxiety attacks. Unfortunately, they are less effective in treating incessant anxiety conditions. Among the drawbacks to this type of drug is that they are habit forming. So if you do start on a course of these medications you will have to continue to take them daily to have any effect and you will experience severe withdrawal symptoms if you stop taking them. Naturally, this is not the best option.

The next option is to begin therapy with a trained psychotherapist. There are several advantages and disadvantages of this method as well. One unfortunate truth about therapy is that it, on its own, is probably not going to grant you a lot of relief from your symptoms. It can help with certain disturbed thinking and can be great for brainstorming but it is also expensive and time consuming. Therapy alone never really results in freedom from the symptoms of anxiety.

The dirty truth about therapists is most of them, themselves, do not suffer from anxiety conditions. So while they can be great at talking theories they don't really have first hand knowledge about what it takes to break free from an anxiety disorder. They are generally book trained and all subscribe to the same company line about the causes of anxiety. In general, the profession has a ways to go to improve itself in the treatment of anxiety.

The next treatment option is to check in to a psychiatric center for an extended stay. This type of inpatient treatment can be very helpful if your anxiety is crippling to the point that you are unable to function in life. It can be especially helpful if you are contemplating suicide or harming yourself.The main thrust of inpatient treatment is to teach individuals new coping skills so that they will not consider suicide. Because of this inpatient treatment centers are especially useful in suicidal cases, though less so in cases requiring more introspection.

Most hospitals use the dialectical behavioral model to direct treatment. DBT teaches simple distress management techniques and mindfulness therapy. For individuals who lack skills to succeed in life and are contemplating suicide, DBT can be extremely successful. If you have a more refined condition then you will get very little out of this form of treatment.

The last point is about the cost. A decent clinic runs at least $750 a day and if you do not have insurance the cost becomes prohibitive. However, if you are close to suicide, this may be a small price to pay.

Those are three of the main methods for treating anxiety disorders. If you want to start dealing with anxiety you may want to consider one of these options.