What is the most effective treatment for anxiety?
Updated: Feb 21, 2023
Find the best fit for you when dealing with overwhelming feelings. Anxiety is difficult to deal with, but these treatment methods may help make it more bearable.
By: Eunice Ahn
What is anxiety? There are many different types of anxiety disorders; however, general anxiety disorder includes symptoms like dizziness, nausea, irritability, muscle tension, nervousness/restlessness, insomnia, difficulty concentrating, constant worry, etc. Some of those concerns can include health, finances, or being expectant of bad news. Although it may currently feel hopeless, as if you can never get rid of your anxious behaviors, anxiety is treatable so that it does not heavily impact your ability to complete tasks at work, do homework, or make/maintain friendships and relationships. I will go into the most effective therapy method, the most used medication, and the effect of both combined on a person.
Psychotherapy: What is it and How is it Helpful?
Medication: What is the Most Effective?
Effectiveness of Using Both Treatments Together
Psychotherapy: What is it and How is it Helpful?
Psychotherapy is defined as a treatment process where patients and psychologists pinpoint concerns and problematic behaviors to establish working methods and techniques for coping with anxiety catered to the person. In general, the most effective treatment for anxiety is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). CBT is effective because it focuses on changing thinking patterns and maladaptive learned behaviors. As a result, CBT helps people find better methods of coping with psychological problems. For example, CBT teaches one to recognize distorted thoughts and reassess them to determine if they are factual. Another helpful skill one can gain from CBT is thinking and understanding other people's motivations or behaviors so that they may use problem-solving skills to cope with these difficult situations. CBT focuses on exposure and having one face their fear instead of avoiding reality and learning to calm oneself when in unexpected or nervous situations.
CBT Therapy for Anxiety
CBT is most effective for anxiety because it provides a framework to work through automatic thoughts and assists one in face activities head-on that may have been avoided in the past, as exposure therapy is crucial in helping build faith in oneself to manage stressful situations and maintain peace as best as one could. Coping skills are gained as people learn to change thought distortions, limiting beliefs, complex emotions, and problematic behaviors.
Group and Family Therapy
There is also group psychotherapy that consists of people with anxiety seeking support from others and looking to treat their anxiety in a group setting. Benefits include but are not limited to seeking support from those who are going through a similar experience and assistance in the process of finding an alternative objective perspective. Family psychotherapy also exists as a way to have family members understand what one is going through and learn ways to avoid putting their child or adolescent, as it is mostly used for this age range in anxious situations.
Medication: What is the Most Effective?
Medication can also play a helpful role in managing anxiety symptoms. One of the most commonly used medications to help manage anxiety is SSRIs/SNRIs, which stand for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and selective serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, respectively. There is also buspirone, which is an anti-anxiety medication great for generalized anxiety. Sometimes psychologists will prescribe sedatives like benzodiazepines. Benzodiazepines do not lead to increased jitteriness and anxiety-like SSRI/SNRI do, but it still has side effects like impaired driving skills, fatigue, dizziness, etc. However, taking benzodiazepines is typically not given to first-time treatment patients and is not typically given long-term. And, if one has a history of drug abuse, they may be prone to addiction once again. That being said, tolerance and finding the right fit for these medications depend on the person. After treatment as well, stopping medication often causes withdrawal symptoms.
Effectiveness of Using Both Treatments Together
CBT and medication combined are usually more effective than medication management alone. All things considered, if your mental health provider recommends you consider getting a consultation for medication management, you are encouraged to use CBT together with CBT. The main reason is that medication alone does not train one to identify and manage thought distortions and limiting beliefs that often drive anxiety symptoms. If you are ready to start your journey, book a free consultation below.
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