What Is Therapy for Anxiety : How Effective It Is, Types & Uses

If you are facing symptoms like feelings of nervousness, tension, restlessness or having panic, or breathing rapidly, you might have anxiety disorders.  However, you need not worry or leave it untreated. Instead, you can consult doctors to get therapy for anxiety disorders and live a better life.

Therapy for anxiety is a form of psychotherapy that aims to treat more than just anxiety symptoms. The therapy includes a self-reflective process that aids in helping people identify, understand and transform their anxiety.

All therapeutic methods aim to assist individuals in comprehending their feelings, triggers, and potential ways to alter their responses to them. Some forms of treatment even impart useful techniques for reframing unfavourable thoughts and altering habits.

Since there are many different types of anxiety disorders, your therapist will customise it according to your unique symptoms and diagnosis. Your therapist can carry it out in a group, family, partnership, or individual setting. Again, depending on your particular symptoms and diagnosis, your therapist will choose how frequently and for how long you meet with them.

Psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental health specialists utilise numerous forms of therapy for anxiety. The type of therapy you receive will also depend on your diagnosis and how severe your symptoms are.

Here are the different types of therapy and the ways it works to treat anxiety.

1. Therapy Using Cognitive Behaviour

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is the most frequently utilised treatment for anxiety disorders. According to research, it is useful in treating various diseases, including panic disorders, phobias, SAD, and GAD. 

CBT is based on the idea that your ideas, not your circumstances, determine how you feel and, in turn, act. CBT aims to examine and change your negative thought patterns and dysfunctional behaviour patterns with more realistic ones as well as more effective coping methods.

Your therapist serves as a coach during this process, providing you with practical techniques. For instance, you might frequently think in "black-and-white" terms, assuming that either everything is evil or everything is wonderful. However, you would substitute the more accurate view that there are numerous shades of grey in between for those thoughts.

Utilising these tactics requires practice. You can learn to use the coping mechanisms you learn in CBT to manage fear, panic, and concern after you start to understand your anxiety and your triggers.

2. Exposure Therapy

Exposure therapy is one of the most popular CBT treatments for anxiety disorders, such as phobias, SAD, and PTSD. The fundamental idea underlying exposure therapy is that facing your fears head-on is the greatest approach to do so.

During exposure treatment, your therapist will gradually introduce anxiety-inducing situations or things to you. Therapists accomplish this therapy with the method of "systematic desensitisation," which entails three steps:

• Relaxation: To help you cope with your anxiety, your therapist will teach you how to relax. Progressive muscular relaxation, deep breathing, meditation, and guided visualisation are a few examples of relaxation training.
• List: Make a list of your anxiety-inducing triggers and rank them according to their severity.
• Expose: In this last step, you'll progressively move through the circumstances or objects that you've described as being anxiety-provoking, employing relaxation techniques as necessary.

3. Dialectical Behavioural Therapy

A particularly successful kind of CBT is dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT). Now, maximum healthcare specialists use DBT to treat a number of illnesses, including anxiety; however, it was initially developed to treat borderline personality disorder (BPD).

The main goals of DBT are to promote change, acceptance, and what appears to be a "dialectical" (opposite) outlook. You will learn to accept your anxiety while also actively trying to change it during DBT therapy. It's comparable to the idea of accepting oneself as you are while still making an effort to improve.

4. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Another form of therapy that has been proven successful in treating several anxiety disorders is acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). ACT entails deciding what you value in life and then acting in ways that are consistent with those values.

5. Art Therapy

A non-verbal, experience-focused therapy, art therapy entails either expressing and processing emotions via the use of visual art (such as painting, sketching, or sculpture) or using art to cultivate mindfulness and relaxation. Although therapists can give it as a stand-alone therapy, they frequently combine it with other forms of therapy like CBT.

However, more study is required to substantiate the usefulness of this more recent therapy in easing anxiety symptoms.

6. Psychoanalytic Therapy

This Freudian theory proposes that anxiety symptoms represent unconscious tensions. Solving them is the goal of psychoanalytic therapy. To better understand how you view yourself and to lessen your anxiety, you and your therapist will analyse your ideas, worries, and desires through psychoanalysis. It might take years to recognise patterns in your thinking, making this one of the most demanding forms of therapy.

7. Interpersonal Therapy

The focus of interpersonal therapy (IPT) is on social roles and connections. In IPT, your therapist will work with you to identify any interpersonal issues you might be experiencing, such as unresolved grief, disputes with family or friends, changes in job or social roles, and troubles with others. Then, you'll discover constructive techniques to communicate with others and express your emotions.

IPT may be utilised if your anxiety is mainly related to your connections with other people, as is the case with SAD, even though it was initially created to treat severe depression.

Discovering the root reasons for your anxieties and phobias, learning to unwind, viewing circumstances in fresh, less frightful ways, and improving your coping and problem-solving abilities can all be achieved with the aid of therapy. Therapy for anxiety helps individuals learn how to apply these strategies, and they receive the tools to combat their anxiety through treatment.

Contrary to what you may have heard or seen in the media, you won't be cured after just one therapy session. However, most patients receiving these therapy sessions recover after a few months. On the other hand, one may get back to their normal routine in just a few sessions. 

In fact, as you continue your treatment, you will have ups and downs. Also, you may experience relief and fresh optimism that you can make the necessary changes to enhance your life.

To conclude, if you think you are undergoing any symptoms, get therapy for anxiety instead of leaving it untreated. Individuals must remember that mental health is still a topic that goes unnoticed by many. So, to be a change, you should begin by taking care of both your physical and mental health.