Anxiety is one of the most frequently diagnosed mental health conditions in today’s society. While it is normal to feel worry and stress from time to time, anxiety disorders represent excessive, long-term fear or worry that impedes an individual’s daily life.
Anxiety can occur at any age, to anyone-adult, adolescent or child, and it can manifest in a number of disorders including generalized anxiety, panic disorder, social anxiety, and phobias. There are a wide variety of therapeutic and psychological scientific approaches to reduce anxiety symptoms significantly, enabling individuals to improve their lives.
What Is Anxiety?
Anxiety disorders are intense, chronic or recurrent episodes of feelings of apprehension, unease or fright, often triggered in normal circumstances but out of proportion to the trigger, both cognitively (in the way an individual thinks) and physiologically (the body’s physical response to that way of thinking), resulting in symptoms of jitteriness, irritableness, racing heartbeat, the vicious cycle of worry, as well as an inability to concentrate.
While it’s perfectly natural and in many ways functional to experience worry, in the form of the anxiety disorder, these episodes significantly inhibit a persons life-relationships, work, sleep and their sense of self.
According to the research available, psychological treatments in particular structured talk therapies are shown to improve symptoms and quality of life for people with anxiety disorders.
Psychology has a number of empirically validated treatments available for anxiety. This approach enables the individual to examine their underlying cause of their anxiety, acquire coping strategies, and alter their maladaptive ways of thinking and behaving.
1. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is often considered the “gold standard” of anxiety treatment. CBT helps an individual to pinpoint and alter maladaptive cognitions with more balanced and constructive thought patterns, and incorporates behavior techniques such as exposure therapy; an individual is gradually exposed to their feared stimulus to reduce avoidance and anxiety over time in a controlled, safe environment.
Several meta-analyses and systematic reviews have consistently demonstrated CBT to be highly effective in the treatment of anxiety disorders including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and OCD. A large-scale review on the efficacy of CBT for anxiety disorders demonstrated a strong positive effect on anxiety and global functioning. CBT has long lasting effects, by teaching individuals skills that are transferable once therapy ends and providing the person with self-efficacy to control future stressors independently.
Mindfulness and Related Techniques
The use of mindfulness based treatments has increased as both primary and adjunctive treatment modalities to CBT. In these treatments clients are encouraged to practice being nonjudgmental while monitoring internal and external phenomena such as thoughts and sensations.
Mindfulness interventions have also been effective in decreasing emotional reactivity and promoting attention to the here and now. Practices such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) integrate mindfulness meditation with cognitive interventions, enabling clients to address anxiety in a way that is both present-focused and calm. Mindfulness practices have demonstrated effectiveness in reducing anxiety, promoting and sustaining long-term emotional regulation.
What the Research Says
Large well-conducted studies suggest that psychotherapy for anxiety not only works under controlled circumstances but is effective in real-world practice. One multisite study, for instance, demonstrated that adults who were involved in CBT at their primary care setting reported substantial reductions in both their depression and anxiety symptom scores, indicating the effectiveness of such therapy for patients in non-clinical settings.
Meta-analyses have also demonstrated that therapies focusing on anxiety are superior to the placebo ofno treatment/waiting list controls and are associated with improvement in symptoms and remission of the disorder in numerous studies. It is true that not all of these therapies are entirely effective in eliminating anxiety but they often provide a much-improved functioning and can improve overall long-term coping mechanisms and resiliency.
The Importance of Early and Individualised Support
Despite their effectiveness for most clients, therapies differ according to such factors as age, seriousness of the disorder and the context and nature of the individual’s life. For young people, researches indicated that psychological treatments greatly diminish the degree of anxiety and also enhance recovery from anxious disorders; nevertheless therapy should always be appropriately formulated to meet young people’s needs.
It is essential to begin treatment as early as possible; young people who have anxiety and are referred for psychological intervention, have a higher likelihood of acquiring healthy ways of managing and coping that can prevent enduring suffering and enhancing their lives.
Final Thoughs
Anxiety can be overwhelming to deal with at times, but is incredibly treatable. The treatments above which is referred to as psychological therapies are based on strong research that has confirmed their ability to reduce anxiety and impact positively on day to day functioning.
If anxiety is impacting on your life then seeing a qualified psychological practitioner could potentially have a major impact. People can overcome anxiety and build resilience to lead happier lives.
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