7 Different Types of Anxiety Disorders and Treatment Using Herbal Remedies or Behavioral Therapy

by Regev Elya • March 7, 2011 • Medicine, Other • 0 Comments

Anxiety is a feeling of extreme and continuing stress that interferes with person’s ability to cope up with day-to-day life situations normally. It can have a pervasive impact on your work and personal life and add tremendous stress to your relationships with others. Anxiety disorders are categorized in seven types. Let’s take a quick look at them.

Different Types of Anxiety Disorders

1. Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): It includes worrying about future or real life situations out of proportion. GAD has affected highest number of people in the world than other anxiety disorder. If a person suffers from stress and worry everyday for six months or more in the year, he/she has been trapped by GAD.

Some common symptoms of GAD are restlessness, irritability, fatigue, lack of concentration, difficulty sleeping, but some may show up different symptoms like dry mouth, shallow breathing, shaking, trembling, difficulty in swallowing etc.

2. Social Phobia: Victims with social phobia are afraid of public places or interaction due to fear of embarrassment, criticism or humiliation. Such phobic avoid meeting new people, eating at crowded places, taking to group or crowd, going to parties, communicating with authorities etc. It is much more serious than normal stress in new situations. But when such stress remains there for prolonged period, it turns into Social Phobia.

3. Panic Disorder: Panic attacks are intense episode of extreme fear and includes ‘heart attack like’ symptoms such as pounding heart, chocking in throat, short breath, chest pain, nausea, fear of dying and going mad, sense of illusion etc. When such attacks happen more than once within a month and person constantly feels worried about re-occurrence of such attack for more than a month; he/she is said to have panic disorder.

4. Agoraphobia: It happens mostly as a result of panic disorder. Victim worries about having panic attacks to such an extent that he/she avoid leaving home completely. Its two sided sword pointed at the victim with fear of not getting help and no way out of the situation.

5. Specific Phobias: It includes exaggerated fear of specific object, place or situation. People go to any extent and behave irrationally to avoid such fears like traveling in plane, taking injection, etc. It disables person to function normally in day-to-day life.

6. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): It happens as an aftermath of traumatic event or experience like abuse, death of loved one, war, natural calamity, torture, accident, and many such tragedies. It causes symptoms like having memories of the event, nightmares, avoiding anything related to the event or place, loosing temper often, detachment, inability to concentrate, strong reaction when reminded of the event as if it is happening again.

7. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD): Obsession means suffering repeatedly from unwanted images, impulses and thoughts that causes anxiety. Compulsion means repeating an action or mental strategy in a futile attempt to reduce anxiety. It untreated it remains there for lifetime and sometimes occur even the after treatment.

What’s The Solution? Any Treatments for Anxiety Disorders Out There?

The typical treatment of anxiety disorders include some kind of a therapy (see blow) and/or prescription drugs. Many anxiety sufferers, however, don’t want to take prescription medications because of its potential side effects. For those individuals, herbal anxiety medications may offer a viable alternative. Treating anxiety disorders with a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has a reputation for being very efective.

Cognitive behavioral therapy techniques for anxiety include cognitive processes, where the patient is trained to change his old thinking habits into a more positive and optimistic way. CBT’s techniques also include behavioral processes, where the patient learns how to implement his new cognitive skills in real life situations. The last part of CBT’s techniques is the emotional stage. In this stage, the patient is trained to relax, control his or her emotions so that the newly acquired skills can be more easily ‘wired’ into the brain. It is a very effective treatment, but there are some others as well.

Other Alternative Therapy Treatments for Anxiety Disorders

Psychotherapy
Hypnotherapy and Self-Hypnosis
Biofeedback Therapy
Dog Therapy
Group Therapies
Relaxation Techniques
Breathing Exercises
Meditation

Natural Herbal Remedies for Anxiety Disorders

Passionflower - Passion flower was once used in several over-the-counter sleep aids and sedatives and has a long history as an effective anxiety treatment. Passionflower extract is available in pill form. Fresh or dried passionflower can be used to make your own herbal preparations.

Valerian - Valerian is a very old natural remedy for anxiety. In fact, it is the oldest and is one of the few herbs to have been the subject of scientific research. Studies have found that Valerian affects the brain in much the same way as Valium and Xanax. But unlike these synthetic drugs, Valerian seems to have a longer-lasting effect on the brain, making it a good alternative for those not wanting to take prescription drugs.

Catnip - Catnip has been used for centuries to treat anxiety and related problems because of its sedative properties. It’s available as an herbal supplement in liquid or tablet form, and its leaves can be made into a tea. One of the most important things to remember about catnip is that humans should not consume catnip that is intended for cats. It is not subject to the strict regulations that herbs sold for human consumption are, and it could be contaminated with other plant products.

(You may buy either one of them online at Amazon — Passionflower / Valerian / Catnip)

Although pharmaceutical companies may claim that herbal anxiety remedies have not been proven to be effective*, alternative medicine practitioners and herbalists say otherwise. Herbs have been used in medicine for hundreds or even thousands of years, and if they had not proven to be effective or had serious side effects, they would have fallen out of favor as an effective treatment long ago.

As with any remedy or medication, monitor yourself for any side effects or allergic reactions, and consult your doctor if you are taking other medication that may interact.

Ever experienced anxiety? Share your thoughts and personal insights using the comment box below, I’d love to hear about your own experiences, especially when it comes to treatment.

I would like to thank Devang Kakkad from devangkakkad.com. Most of the above content was contributed by him.

* Note from Regev: I highly recommend reading “Food Is Better Medicine Than Drugs” to better understand the relation between the pharmaceutical industry and their best intention for you not to be aware of the “nutritional truth”. As you have probably guessed, it’s all about money, as in all industries, and you should not pay the price. Do yourself a favor and get this book in your hands. Read it, and pass it along to your family and friends. A priceless piece of knowledge.

update: I’ve just added two new posts about coping with stress and the health benefits of meditation.

The above article is intended for informational purposes only. Always consult a physician before any action you decide to take, as this article should not be treated as a medical advice.

FreshBeetle