Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a psychological method of treatment for GAD that involves a therapist working with the patient to understand how thoughts and feelings influence behavior. The goal of the therapy is to change negative thought patterns that lead to the patient's anxiety, replacing them with positive, more realistic ones. Elements of the therapy include exposure strategies to allow the patient to gradually confront their anxieties and feel more comfortable in anxiety-provoking situations, as well as to practice the skills they have learned. CBT can be used alone or in conjunction with medication.
Pharmaceutical treatments for GAD include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs),[22] which are antidepressants that influence brain chemistry to block the reabsorption of serotonin in the brain.[24] SSRIs are mainly indicated for clinical depression, but are also very effective in treating anxiety disorders.[22] Common side effects include nausea, sexual dysfunction, headache, diarrhea, constipation, among others. Common SSRIs prescribed for GAD include:
- fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem)
- paroxetine (Paxil, Aropax)
- escitalopram (Lexapro, Cipralex)
- sertraline (Zoloft)
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generalized_anxiety_disorder
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ESSENTIAL COMMENT
Th treatments described above only cover clinical treatments to generalized anxiety disorder.
I feel that most coping or response strategies to anxiety never involve clinical treatment, because anxiety is mild, non diagnosed as a disorder or other approaches are being sought
In another note, I give examples of many coping or response strategies that are used all the time and don't involve any form of clinical treatment or therapy - these include mind training, religious or spiritual approaches, etc.
http://mind.vitalcoaching.com/2011/03/coping-responses-to-anxiety-note.html
http://mind.vitalcoaching.com/2011/03/coping-responses-to-anxiety-note.html
I am only posting here the info I found on Wikipedia about this topic but there is of course much much more that is not being said in terms of responses to anxiety.
The first element is that most anxious emotions in society are not a disorder - they are a natural response to perceived threat on security or survival.
Some emotions tend to be seen as positive (like joy or happiness) and other to be seen as negative (as anxiety or anger).
I don't believe that these emotions are usually disorders, unless they become extreme and debilitating.
For instance if you REALLY can't stand being in a crowd, that's debilitating, right? There is a psychological disorder term for that.
But even then, you still define that state from a psychological point of view, which is ONLY ONE of the possible points of view.
A spiritual tradition for instance will see that emotional reaction from a VERY different perspective and define it in the context of plays of bad and good energies for instance rather than in clinical terms.
So, the point is that existing psychology does not own a unique solution or approach to these challenges.
You have MANY more approaches to anxiety and the psychotherapeutic or clinical one is only one of the possible ways to go.