The person suffering from anxiety would like to get rid of this pain. This is the first impulse. And it is understandable.

And yet, anxiety is a signal, a message, a sign that something is wrong in the person's life.

As such, anxiety often also has a positive function, he warns us. About what? This is the first fundamental question..

We must try to understand what is wrong, what is the danger to which the anxiety responds. This understanding operation is very important and cannot be done alone, you need to get help from someone.

Often this hidden meaning dwells in the folds of our relationships, in our innermost thoughts, in daydreams. But work needs to be done to find this hidden meaning, and take some time to look back over your life.

Drug treatment of anxiety

Against the anxious manifestations, it is possible to resort to drugs, appropriately prescribed by a doctor who follows the intake. For better treatment, you should reach to medical experts like Los Angeles Anxiety Treatment, and have an appropriate treatment to cure your anxiety problem.

Among the drugs that have an anxiolytic effect, we find benzodiazepines, benzodiazepine derivative drugs (Dalmadorm, Halcion, Minias, etc.) other drugs which, despite having a composition different from benzodiazepines, have a sedative-hypnotic effect (Nottem, Stilnox, Buspar, etc.), and finally antidepressants.

Since anxiety is a symptom present in several very different psychopathological pictures, the doctor must prescribe the drug based on the patient's overall condition and all of his symptoms.

The most commonly used drug categories are benzodiazepines and antidepressants. These drugs act on the psychological components of anxiety (tension, worry, uncertainty, fear, etc.).

Medicines can be very effective, but they are not meant to be a cure.

Medicines can provide temporary relief, reduce some symptoms, even make them go away, but they do not act on the underlying causes of anxiety. Therefore, usually, when you stop taking the drug, the symptoms return as if nothing had happened.

For these reasons, drugs are particularly indicated when the anxious manifestations are very strong and disabling but are really effective only if associated with psychotherapy.

In addition, the side effects and risks associated with taking the drugs must also be considered.

The benzodiazepines act by inducing a hypnotic effect at high doses (facilitates the initiation and maintenance of sleep, causes drowsiness) and as sedatives at lower doses (reduction of anxiety during the day, induction of a state of calm or quiet).

The most common side effect of benzodiazepines is sleepiness. Deleterious effects on cognitive performance are also possible. Furthermore, the side effects and unwanted effects increase when benzodiazepines are taken together with other sedative substances, such as alcohol: this association can cause marked drowsiness, disinhibition, or even respiratory depression.

Finally, a long intake of benzodiazepines can give rise to withdrawal syndromes, the most serious symptoms of which can be depression, paranoia, delirium, and seizures. For these reasons, the use of benzodiazepines is not recommended for long periods.

Even some antidepressant drugs, beyond the name, are effective in combating anxiety symptoms. They usually have no sedative, memory, or addictive effects. Their action is established after a few weeks of intake and for this reason, they are not suitable for treatment on demand.

Finally, for anxiolytic-sedative purposes, "natural" products are also used, such as Valerian, Melatonin, etc.

We reiterate that the drug has the power to attenuate moderate manifestations of anxiety, and in this it certainly brings a benefit, but it can do nothing about the reasons that generate anxiety.

To use an image, anxiety is like the appearance of a crack in the wall. It is a sign that the structure of our house has suffered a blow, a shake. Medication may be necessary, but it's like putting a picture over the crack.

For these reasons, the main indication is that the use of drugs, if necessary, must be accompanied by a psychotherapeutic treatment which is the clinical tool par excellence for a radical modification and disappearance of the anxiety picture.

Anxiety psychotherapy

The psychotherapeutic treatment of anxiety requires time and - obviously - the contribution of a good psychotherapist. The therapeutic work will go in the direction of understanding the reasons for the anxious response, investigating the mental world in its broadest sense. 

It is important that the subject be active in this work, that is, that he does not passively expect responses from the therapist, but seek them out himself and takes an interest in his own illness.