Antianxiety drugs are commonly used both safely and effectively on a short-term basis to treat troublesome situational anxiety. In addition, supportive relationships have been shown to form a very effective component in the treatment of anxiety disorders. Every patient should have the benefit of support and empathic understanding during the course of treatment of an anxiety disorder, but this support need not come from a professional. Friends and relatives can often serve in these supportive roles quite well. Next, we can look at the second subtopic of the anxiety disorder classification- fears and phobic disorders.
Phobic anxiety focuses on a specific object or situation.
Phobias, or irrational fears, are a common psychological disorder that people often accept and live with. For instance, Marylin, a 28 year-old homemaker, has a phobia of thunderstorms. She so fears thunderstorms that she feels anxious as soon as a weather forecaster mentions possible storms later in the week. If her husband is gone and a storm is coming, she stays with a close relative. In this case, we see a mild example of a phobic disorder.