Psych Central's Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S., wrote a comprehensive post about anxiety disorder and how to treat it. She also lays out four common misconceptions about anxiety disorder that I thought was worth excerpting here.
1. Anxiety disorders aren't that serious.
This myth persists because "anxiety is a universal and normative emotion," said Risa Weisberg, Ph.D, Assistant Professor (research) and Co-Director of the Brown University Program for Anxiety Research at Alpert Medical School. However, anxiety "can be a hugely distressing and impairing symptom."
2. "I can overcome this on my own."
In her research on anxiety disorders in primary care, Weisberg found that nearly half of primary care patients with anxiety disorders weren't taking medication or attending therapy. When asked about their reasons for not engaging in treatment, one of the most common answers was that they didn't believe in receiving these treatments for emotional problems. Anxiety disorders have a chronic course and "the bottom line is that good treatments exist, so there is no reason to suffer on your own," Weisberg said.
3. Anxiety disorders are a character defect.
"Anxiety has a genetic and neurological basis," said Tom Corboy, MFT, Director of the OCD Center of Los Angeles.
4. "I need medication in order to improve."
Though medication can be effective in treating anxiety disorders, "research suggests that in many cases, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is better or just as good as CBT plus medication," said Jon Abramowitz, Ph.D, Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Director of the UNC Anxiety and Stress Disorders Clinic. CBT teaches patients the skills for lasting benefits.
To read her entire post click here.
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My anxiety disorder has taken on many forms since it made its dramatic appearance in 2003. It has *matured* and mostly takes the form of chronic and acute dyspnea. Kindly understand that I have undergone a battery of "physical" tests and the heart and lungs are, all things considered, in good shape.
But my walking pace is maybe have what it used to be and going up and down stairs in not nearly as much fun as it used to be. One item which caught me off guard was an inability to sing. I was never a great singer but had always been able to sing along in church. And so far, and so far I can't ride my bicycle. I can't pedal fast enough to maintain a balance.
Sometimes it resorts back to the traditional anxiety manifestations of intense fear, shaking of the body and even teeth chattering. Medication helps but it is mostly a short term fix. My anxiety demon has made itself at home and doesn't appear to be leaving.
An anti depressant is a miracle cure for my social anxiety. It worked when nothing else did.
Great post. Some natural anxiety remedies to look into are St.John's Wort, SAMe, L-Theanine, and Tryptophan. There's also cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and programs like Panic Away and The Linden Method, to name a few. Hope this helps!
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