Best Practices for Anxiety Treatment | Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Channel: Daily Dose of Psychology
Date: 2022-10-08

Psychological therapies for GAD (General Anxiety Disorder)
If you have been diagnosed with GAD, you'll usually be advised to try psychological treatment before you're prescribed medication.

You can get psychological therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and applied relaxation on the NHS.

You can refer yourself directly to an NHS psychological therapies service (IAPT) without a referral from a GP.

Guided self-help
Your GP or psychological therapies service may suggest trying a guided self-help course to see if it can help you learn to cope with your anxiety.

This involves working through a CBT-based workbook or computer course in your own time with the support of a therapist.

Or you may be offered a group course where you and other people with similar problems meet with a therapist every week to learn ways to tackle your anxiety.

If these initial treatments don't help, you'll usually be offered either a more intensive psychological therapy or medication.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one of the most effective treatments for GAD.

Studies of different treatments for GAD have found the benefits of CBT may last longer than those of medication, but no single treatment works for everyone.

CBT helps you to question your negative or anxious thoughts and do things you'd usually avoid because they make you anxious.

It usually involves meeting with a specially trained and accredited therapist for a 1-hour session every week for 3 to 4 months.

Applied relaxation
Applied relaxation focuses on relaxing your muscles in a particular way during situations that usually cause anxiety.

The technique needs to be taught by a trained therapist, but generally involves:

* learning how to relax your muscles
* learning how to relax your muscles quickly and in response to a trigger, such as the word "relax"
* practicing relaxing your muscles in situations that make you anxious

As with CBT, applied relaxation therapy will usually mean meeting with a therapist for a 1-hour session every week for 3 to 4 months.

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Treatment for anxiety falls into three categories:

Psychotherapy. Therapy can include cognitive behavioral therapy and exposure response prevention.
Complemental health techniques. Mindfulness, yoga, and self-management strategies such as stress management are ways to treat your anxiety using alternative methods.
Medication. Doctors prescribe antianxiety and antidepressant drugs.
Meeting with a therapist or psychologist can help you learn tools to use and strategies to cope with stress when it occurs.

The Mental Health Resources page can provide tips on finding a psychiatrist, or a doctor who specializes in mental health, to fit your needs.

Medications typically used to treat anxiety include benzodiazepines for short-term symptom relief, but they’re avoided if possible due to the high risk of dependence. Other antianxiety or antidepressant medications such as escitalopram effectively alter your brain chemistry to improve mood and reduce stress.

Some other commonly used medications include:

* Selective serotonin uptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Escitalopram, fluoxetine, and paroxetine are common SSRIs.
* Selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs). Duloxetine and venlafaxine are common SNRIs.
* Antipsychotics. Quetiapine and aripiprazole are common antipsychotics.
* Benzodiazepines. Diazepam and clonazepam are common benzodiazepines.
* Anxiolytics. Buspirone is a common anxiolytic.

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