Anxiety Symptoms

There are several different ways to attack anxiety and anxiety symptoms: with prescription medication, therapy, and herbal remedies.  Each of these different methods to get rid of anxiety symptoms has specific advantages and also disadvantages to consider.

Therapy:
One way to attack anxiety symptoms is to knock them out with professional therapy.  Therapy is a good first step to take with those suffering from frequent anxiety symptoms because it can offer long lasting results.   But it is a rare first step.  For those people with chronic anxiety, only about 21% of them actually get professional help to get rid of their anxiety symptoms.  Often, trained therapists will try to get rid of these anxiety symptoms by using a combination of other methods as well as typical therapy sessions.
 
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, there are two leading treatments for anxiety symptoms that have been shown to be very successful in treating patients who have been diagnosed with different anxiety disorders.  These two types of treatment are called behavior therapy and cognitive therapy. 

In behavior therapy, a therapist tries to drastically reduce or stop the anxiety symptoms entirely by teaching patients relaxation and deep breathing techniques, and providing them with ways to avoid becoming anxious in the first place.

In cognitive therapy, patients who are diagnosed with anxiety symptoms are being taught to understand how their thoughts and worries add to the symptoms of their anxiety disorders.  Once they understand this, their goal is to change the way they think and reduce the occurrence and severity of their anxiety.

Prescription Medication:
Another major type of anxiety treatment is the prescription of anxiety medication.  There are different anxiety medications for different types of anxiety disorders.  The best way to find one that is right for you is to talk to your doctor or therapist.  There are two different types of anti-anxiety medications that tend to work well and are prescribed the most.  These medications are benzodiazepines and beta-blockers.  The goal of these medications is to reduce the occurrence of anxiety attacks and make sure they aren’t as severe.  Prescription medications are very effective, but relief of anxiety symptoms tends to last only as long as the anxiety sufferer is taking them. 

Herbal Supplements:
A third way to reduce the effects of anxiety symptoms is to use herbal supplements.  One of the most well-known and effective herbs against anxiety symptoms is Kava Kava.  This herbal remedy is known to have a calming effect on most people and helps them with their anxiety.  A second very popular herbal drug is St. John’s Wort.  This is a really gentle sedative that calms the nervous system, which is responsible for anxiety symptoms in the first place.

The three most effective ways to combat anxiety symptoms are with professional therapy, prescription drugs, and herbal remedies.  The majority of people who seek help can find relief from severe anxiety attacks from one (or a combination) of these three routes.