Treatment and Prevention
Treatment can either take place through use of medications or psychological
interventions.
Treatment using medications involves antidepressant medications that
are effective in treating the various symptoms associated with social phobia,
panic attacks, and co-occurring depression. Anti-anxiety agents (benzodiazepines)
and beta-blockers may also play a role in treatment. Available medications
include:
- SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) alter the levels
of serotonin in the brain, and have fewer side effects than the other anti-depressant
medications.
- Tricyclic antidepressants used in low doses have been widely used
in treating anxiety disorders; however, these medications have side effects
such as dizziness, drowsiness, dry mouth, and weight gain.
- MAOIs (monoamine oxidase inhibitors) work well on panic disorder
and social phobia; these medications require people to adhere to a restrictive
diet that at times can be troublesome. Failure to adhere to the diet can result
in very serious reactions.
- Beta-blockers - normally used in the treatment of heart conditions
- are effective in the treatment of social phobia. They are specifically prescribed
for individuals who must perform or talk in public and require short-term
medication to stop the associated physical symptoms of the phobia from developing.
- Benzodiazepines are effective anti-anxiety medications that can
be very helpful in the short term treatment of anxiety, for immediate use
during an acute panic attack, and during behavioral treatment as a person
attempts to face his or her feared situation or specific phobia.
Psychotherapy is a powerful non-medicinal psychological intervention in
the treatment of social phobia, panic disorder, and specific phobias. Cognitive
therapy, the specific psychological intervention that is effective in social
phobias and panic disorders, aims at changing thinking patterns and finding
ways of redefining or coming to terms with core beliefs behind certain fears.
behavioral therapy is effective for specific phobias where gradual exposure
of the person to the specific phobia occurs as the person is taught how to cope
with and manage the resultant anxiety. Confronting fears in the safety of a
therapeutic environment helps to dull people's phobias, and gradually helps
them put the fears - and their responses to them - into perspective.
Talking about a specific fear can help to alleviate the intense anxiety
associated with it. Trusted friends and family can provide good support,
especially when anxiety follows some trauma in a person's life. Self-help groups
can also be eye-opening encounters by allowing people to share experiences and
to find out how others with similar problems cope with their fears. Relaxation
and stress-management techniques - learned from professionals, groups, or books
and videos - can go a long way towards helping people to control their anxiety.