Anxiety prevalence, signs and treatment options.

Mental illness is a common condition which has previously gone under recognized and treated. Some people identify mental illness as shameful and are afraid to seek treatment. This article focuses on Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and how to recognize and help those who suffer from it. A survey by the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R) found that 19.1% of adults in the U.S. had an anxiety disorder in the past year. The same survey discovered that 31.1% of adults will experience any anxiety disorder in their lives. Common symptoms include overarching sadness, over eating/sleeping, under eating/sleeping, idleness, anti-social behavior and anger. Anxiety can be controlled or even stopped, in some cases, by self help, medication and therapy. Self care is probably the easiest for most people requiring no out of pocket expense. Exercise, avoiding alcohol or caffeine and relaxation are some examples of self-care. Antidepressants and antianxiety medications are another tool that is used to deal with GAD. Antidepressants like Zoloft and Prozac may be used in conjunction with anti-anxiety medication like Xanax and Ativan. They do have their differences though. Medications like Prozac (a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor or SSRI) take a month or more to take effect rather than an Ativan or Xanax ( benzodiazepines) which takes effect within an hour. These drugs are prescribed as needed and have the advantage of being cheaper than talk therapy and usually are covered by insurance. Talk therapies may be the best way to keep anxiety under control in the long term. They try to teach the client how to overcome anxiety on their own. Therapies can come in many forms. However, the most successful strategies at combating GAD are cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and exposure therapy. CBT is a way to identify, understand, and change thinking and behavior patterns through setting and achieving goals. Benefits are usually seen in 12 to 16 weeks, depending on the individual. CBT is most used because it has proven to be the best single option, having 87% of patients responding positively to treatment. Exposure therapy, a form of CBT, exposes one to an anxiety enough so as to lessen the effect. Exposure therapy sees only 60%-90% of people respond to treatment. However, the best results have come from a mixture of the three. According to The Center For Treatment Of Anxiety And Mood Disorders “Medications can help alleviate the symptoms of depression and anxiety more quickly, thus giving the person a chance to improve their symptoms while undergoing psychotherapy at the same time.” Evidence also comes from the Consumer Reports Research Center which said that those who did best in their study took meds and saw a therapist 7 times over the trial period. This has been a basic overview into anxiety.

Robert Jackson
Harrison Boutwell
Jordan Feldman
Ruby Jantzen