There are several options available to one who wants to begin treating anxiety [http://facinganxiety.wordpress.com]. There are, in fact, two paths that I call the "traditional" and the "alternative" options. Let's take a look at each of these methods.
First you have the traditional method of treating anxiety. In order to get the most out of this method, you will have to have good health insurance or a deep purse. The reason for this is that you are going to have to consult with many high-priced mental health professionals such as psychiatrists and therapists. These people do this kind of work for a living so they charge a pretty penny.
The advantage to working with the traditional model is that such professionals are well versed in textbook approaches to anxiety. These include cognitive behavioral therapy and anxiety medication. A therapist who is trained in CBT is likely to going to have a bias for that treatment method and while research indicates that CBT is quite effective for dealing with phobias and panic attacks, it does not work for every single case of anxiety disorder.
A psychiatrist on the other hand will prescribe anti-anxiety medication to alleviate your symptoms. Many of these medications belong to a class of drugs called benzodiazepines or benzos. Benzos are very effective for alleviating anxiety episodes but are not nearly as effective at treating chronic anxiety or generalized anxiety. They also are very addicting and have an infamous withdrawal syndrome, so if you start them let's hope that you never have to get off of them.
The other method is the so-called alternative method for treating anxiety. Now some people assume that this means touchy-feely stuff like meditation and praying to trees. I am not using it in that context. I simply mean alternative to the traditional model. The best alternative therapies are discussed on mental health forums and anxiety blogs where the individuals are actual sufferers of the disease. For that reason I believe that there is a lot of benefit to studying these methods.
Whatever method you decide to choose, the fact remains that people who get help for anxiety tend to get better. Maybe 95 out of 100 people who seek treatment will dramatically improve. Those are great odds and something that you need to consider.
First you have the traditional method of treating anxiety. In order to get the most out of this method, you will have to have good health insurance or a deep purse. The reason for this is that you are going to have to consult with many high-priced mental health professionals such as psychiatrists and therapists. These people do this kind of work for a living so they charge a pretty penny.
The advantage to working with the traditional model is that such professionals are well versed in textbook approaches to anxiety. These include cognitive behavioral therapy and anxiety medication. A therapist who is trained in CBT is likely to going to have a bias for that treatment method and while research indicates that CBT is quite effective for dealing with phobias and panic attacks, it does not work for every single case of anxiety disorder.
A psychiatrist on the other hand will prescribe anti-anxiety medication to alleviate your symptoms. Many of these medications belong to a class of drugs called benzodiazepines or benzos. Benzos are very effective for alleviating anxiety episodes but are not nearly as effective at treating chronic anxiety or generalized anxiety. They also are very addicting and have an infamous withdrawal syndrome, so if you start them let's hope that you never have to get off of them.
The other method is the so-called alternative method for treating anxiety. Now some people assume that this means touchy-feely stuff like meditation and praying to trees. I am not using it in that context. I simply mean alternative to the traditional model. The best alternative therapies are discussed on mental health forums and anxiety blogs where the individuals are actual sufferers of the disease. For that reason I believe that there is a lot of benefit to studying these methods.
Whatever method you decide to choose, the fact remains that people who get help for anxiety tend to get better. Maybe 95 out of 100 people who seek treatment will dramatically improve. Those are great odds and something that you need to consider.
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