Professional
Help.
Listed below are some of the types of professional treatment available.
Note these are only very brief explanations.
Medical
Practitioner.
If you haven't already been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder here is
the first place you should definitely go. It is important that someone
who is having symptoms such as having a panic attack have any other causes
ruled out. A medical practitioner can also make you feel more reassured
about what is happening to you and can discuss the types of treatments
available.
Psychologist/
Psychiatrist.
You may end up seeing a psychologist or a psychiatrist. They can discuss
with you your problems. Help with your thought processes. Go over any
issues in life you may have and work out a good way to tackle your anxiety
disorder. A large part of an anxiety disorder can be the way one thinks.
Ones attitude and perspective towards not only life but also towards
ones disorder. Some therapists perform cognitive behavioral therapy. This
type of therapy has been shown to have some of the best and lasting results
with anxiety disorders.
Cognitive
Behavioral Therapy.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is a series of exercises or strategies of
working to over come a particular anxiety disorder. Depending on the disorder
these strategies can include breathing and relaxation techniques and desensitization
(the act of slowly introducing ones self to feared situations or feared
bodily sensations). For example if one finds the symptom of a racing heart
very disturbing a cognitive behavioral therapist might put you through
a number of exercises to accelerate the heart beat in a controlled circumstance.
They would then help you to relax or to control the heartbeat so that
you no longer fear it. This can sound a little harsh and scary but it
is done in very small steps.
Types
of Medications.
Benzodiazepine
Tranquilizers
These include medications such as Xanax, Ativan, Valium, Serax, Klonopin,
Tranxene. Also in the benzodiazepine sedatives are Dalmane, and temazepam.
These medications are usually fast acting and work by suppressing the
activity of the central nervous system. While these drugs tend to be efficient
in reducing anxiety there can also be a danger of tolerance and addiction.
Antidepressants
There are four groups of these:
1.MAO- inhibitor Antidepressants. Such as
Nardil, Marplan and Parnate. These are not used much anymore. When taking
these one must watch their diet (certain foods may cause large rises in
blood pressure) and also certain over the counter medications.
2. Cyclic Antidepressants Such as
Trofranil, Anafranil and Elavil. These medications seem to reduce both
the intensity and the frequency of panic attacks. They can also
be effective in reducing depression.
3.SSRI (Selective Seretonin Reuptake Inhibitor)
Such as Paxil (aropax) celexa (cimpramil) and zoloft. These can
be used to treat panic disorder, agoraphobia, depression and ocd.
These are some of the most commonly prescribed medications.
There are also more medications used, and also much more information
to be found on the medications above. If you are looking for detailed
information on a particular medication you might try using this looking
at this site - rxlist
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