What’s the best way to treat anxiety? Many people turn to their medical doctors for one of the increasingly popular anti-anxiety drugs. According to GoodRx, about one in every ten prescriptions written in the U.S. is for medications to treat anxiety or its close cousin, depression. Others turn to professional counselors for talk therapy designed to get at the root cause of their anxiety.
So which approach is best? Sometimes, both at the same time. It’s not unusual for people who are dealing with anxiety to find relief through a combination of medication and therapy. Understanding the right choice for individuals requires developing an understanding of how each works and what happens when they’re used in coordination.
It also involves an understanding of the nature of anxiety. What we call anxiety is not some modern invention. In fact, it’s as old as human beings. As humans populated the Earth, we needed ways to protect ourselves from real dangers, whether that was another human who wanted our food or something like a sabertoothed tiger. Our brains developed hormones like cortisol and adrenalin to prepare us for a quick escape from danger. When the brain sensed a threat, it flooded the body with cortisol and adrenalin to help us focus on complete attention on getting to safety. Once the threat was over, the levels of those and other brain chemicals returned to normal.
That biology is still a part of us. When your brain perceives a threat, it instantly sends those hormones out. The overwhelming tension, apprehensive uneasiness, or nervousness we often feel is what we refer to as anxiety. Everyone gets nervous or worried from time to time, and while those emotions may provoke similar responses, anxiety isn’t normal nervousness. It’s often marked by physical signs such as feeling out of breath, sweating, and an increased pulse rate. As it becomes more frequent or intense, anxiety may include recurring intrusive thoughts or concerns that can become obsessions. And it’s all because your brain thinks you’re in danger.
Anti-anxiety medications are formulated to adjust the levels of chemicals in our brain. Drugs like benzodiazepines –better known by names like Xanax and Valium — help to suppress the brain’s responses to things that really aren’t threats. Other drugs known as antidepressants may also be prescribed. Anti-anxiety medications generally start helping fairly quickly, but some people’s brain chemistry has trouble adjusting to them, so they may need to try multiple medications to find the right one. There’s also the potential for addiction, so doctors carefully monitor patients taking these drugs.
Therapy takes a different approach to anxiety by seeking to identify and address emotional and psychological responses to issues in daily life. One of most common types of therapy used with anxiety, cognitive-behavioral (CBT), is designed to identify and change the thought patters and behaviors that may aggravate anxiety. For example, if you find it difficult to go out around other people, CBT may help you understand the root cause (often something that happened long ago) and give you strategies for overcoming those feelings.
When used together, therapy and medication can often provide faster relief from anxiety symptoms. As your counselor helps you understand and take control of the triggers to your anxiety, the medication removes the uncomfortable feelings. Over time, patients often discover that what they’ve learned in therapy eliminates the symptoms and their need for medication. However, it’s important for doctors and counselors to know if you’re using both medications and therapy so they can monitor your well-being and make adjustments as needed.
While Care to Change’s team of professional counselors cannot prescribe medications, we can refer people to medical doctors who understand the value of therapy and work closely with us to help people improve. If you believe you’ve been suffering from anxiety, a good first step is making an appointment with one of our counselors. We also encourage you to visit our website’s Resources page, where you’ll find all sorts of helpful tools and information. [LINK]
