Medication drugs vs therapy, an ongoing controversy

When we talk about anxiety disorders it is inevitable to talk about treatment, how can we cure this illness? what is the best approach to it? The scientific literature suggests that, in the treatment of anxiety disorders, that psychological interventions can be very effective. However, there are some patients where they aren't working optimally and introducing medication can be quite effective. Having said that, if you are to face the decision on how to treat an anxiety disorder there are important things to consider when questioning what treatment to use.

Treating anxiety disorders with medication is a practice that has a long history. Yet, nowadays, this type of treatment has become very controversial because of the numerous side effects which anti-anxiety and antidepressant drugs may have. Another reason which has limited the prescription of these drugs is the fact that tolerance to them can be easily developed. There are some cases in which the positive results for which the anti-anxiety drugs are prescribed are overstepped by the numerous side effects. People taking this type of drugs may experience dizziness, drowsiness, memory problems and confusion. Also the patients may become addictive to those substances or may experience depressive states.Benzodiazepines may even produce the side effects similar to those conditions for which they have been prescribed in the first placeThis means that a patient suffering from anxiety can fall deeper in this condition because of the medication that was supposed to cure him. The elder people are more prone to this type of side effects.There have been cases in which people who took this type of drugs have taken additional medication without the doctor’s advice and died because of the toxic combination. Also, elderly people and pregnant women are strongly advised not to take antidepressants. However, it is necessary to note that they are not used for curing the condition, but rather to alleviate some of its symptoms.
When it comes to treating anxiety disorders, research shows that therapy is usually the most effective option. That’s because anxiety therapy–unlike anxiety medication–treats more than just the symptoms of the problem. Therapy can help you uncover the underlying causes of your worries and fears; learn how to relax; look at situations in new, less frightening ways; and develop better coping and problem-solving skills. Therapy gives you the tools to overcome anxiety and teaches you how to use them.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the most widely-used therapy for anxiety disorders. Research has shown it to be effective in the treatment of panic disorder, phobias, social anxiety disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder, among many other conditions.Cognitive behavioral therapy addresses negative patterns and distortions in the way we look at the world and ourselves.The basic premise of cognitive behavioral therapy is that our thoughts–not external events–affect the way we feel. In other words, it’s not the situation you’re in that determines how you feel, but your perception of the situation.

In conclusion I agree that Behavioral therapy treatment may have better long time benefits than medication drugs. I think that the approach should be with therapy treatment, since we learn how to cope with all the difficulties we are experiencing and progressively we start thinking and acting in a way that decreases stress and anxiety. On the other hand, medication drugs only alleviate the symptoms and we can grow dependent on them or we can even develop tolerance, moreover second effects can overstep the positive effects on the drugs and affect our daily activities.

References:
1.http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/diseases-maladies/anxiety-anxieux-eng.php
2.http://publications.cpa-apc.org/browse/documents/67

Anxiety disorders, What can we trust online?

More and more we are getting used to finding all our concerns and answers from the web. As it is easy and fast to do, and probably just a matter of typing a key word on Google to come up with thousands of web pages addressing our matter of concern. But, how can we tell how reliable a website is? When referring to health in particular, it is primordial to learn how to differentiate from a trustworthy web page from one that lacks credibility.Now a days everybody is able to introduce information of any kind to the web and, unfortunately most of them have lucrative objectives when doing so.Having said that, in this post I am going to address information about anxiety disorders found in a website lacking credibility and I will give important reasons as of why is it the case it lacks credibility and I will counter that website with a credible one.



To start, take a look at this website, the author claims to have an immediate cure for anxiety disorders and attacks, an e-book called "Panic away". The first thing lacking credibility is the layout of the site, it looks like it is something that a kid could do using some basic knowledge of blogging, right away the author refers to "personal experience" and talks about how he found the cure and how he wants to share it with people so we can save thousands of dollars. He directs us to a website where a video starts, and he gives some more information about this miraculous cure. He claims that anxiety disorders are not a mental illness. He then addresses that his cure can get rid of anxiety disorders in 7 minutes, moreover he says that the regular treatment such as drugs and therapy do not work at all to cure anxiety disorders. He finishes the video offering a great price for his e-book and how people can not miss this opportunity. After reading and listening all the information he offers, we can not tell who this person is, what kind of educational background he has and even worse, what kind of references he has to support his claims.

Now, take a look at this website instead, the Public Health agency of Canada, first thing to notice is the website termination, .gc.ca, a site supported by the Canadian government. Second we can notice at the bottom the formal references and resources this web page has used. We can trust that is credible one and a good source of information too. We can find out after researching the website that anxiety disorder is considered a mental illness and the cure for this is a progressive treatment either with medication or therapy (cognitive) or both.

To conclude, we need to be careful on what we trust from the web, this is only one example from maybe thousands out there. Identifying a credible source of information is important in order for us to take advantage of this essential tool of the Internet to accurately respond our answers and concerns.