There are
different types of chronic anxiety disorders that can affect your mental,
physical and emotional well-being. Therefore, if you have panic attacks,
unrelenting worries, any type of phobia or obsessive thoughts, you might be
suffering from anxiety disorder. You don’t have to suffer or wait until it is
very late for you to look for treatment. Instead, treatment should be your
priority because there are proven treatment methods that can help you deal with
this problem e.g. cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and exposure therapy.
Chronic
anxiety disorder can manifest itself mentally and physically depending on the disorder
you are suffering from, how long you have had it, the measures you are
taking/you are taking and where you live. However, these are some of the signs
and the symptoms that might prompt you to look for anxiety disorder treatment:
• Trembling
or shaking
• Heart
palpitations
• Numbness
or a tingling sensation
• Stomach
upset e.g. nausea
•
Restlessness
•
Sleeplessness or sleeping poorly
• Intrusive
thoughts
• Lack of
concentration
• Inability
to relax
• Feeling
tense
• Muscle
tightness and/or body aches
What
treatment options are available?
i. Therapy
According to
research, therapy is the most effective treatment method when it comes to
chronic anxiety disorder because it treats more than the symptoms. It is
important to understand that anxiety disorders differ considerably from one
person to another and hence therapy could also be different depending on what
you are facing or suffering from. It is also important to understand that the
type of therapy to be used as well as the length of the therapy will depend on
the severity of the anxiety attack. However, you don’t have to be worried
because therapies are short term with 8 to 10 being the average to treat
anxiety disorders.
Cognitive
behavioral therapy and exposure therapy are leading treatment therapies. The
two therapies are proven and guaranteed to have positive effects on patients.
Depending on the type of disorder you have, each therapy can be used alone or
several therapies can be combined together to achieve desired results.
Furthermore, since therapy sessions are supposed to be regular, you can have a
therapy session alone or in a group of people who have similar anxiety
problems.
For
instance, CBT mainly focuses on helping you recognize and understand your
thoughts and patterns when it comes to experiencing negative thoughts. When you
get to understand and recognize the pattern, you will be able to focus on
coping skills to ease the anxiety feelings. On the other hand, exposure therapy
tends to help you relate with the anxieties you are facing bit by bit via
exposure. These therapies are conducted by professionals who are skilled and
experienced in this field.
ii.
Medications
There are
anxiety medications which can help you relieve the signs and the symptoms you
have been experiencing. Antidepressants, anti-anxiety and sometimes sedatives
are used depending on your condition and how long you’ve had it. The doctor
will start by examining you before administering or prescribing any dosage to
ensure that the medication will work on you.
To some
people, medication is more effective than therapy and vice versa. Nevertheless,
other people combine medication and therapy because they find the two to be
more effective. Regular exercises, engaging in stress management practices such
as yoga or meditation as well as eating healthy food are behaviors that can
help you manage anxiety disorder. Finally, you should not miss your medication
or therapy sessions to avoid having a reoccurrence of the same signs and
symptoms.
