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Treatment of Anxiety Disorders
Early recognition and appropriate management are imperative in order to enhance the quality of life of individuals with anxiety disorders.
Proper recognition and management also help to prevent common secondary disorders, such as depression and abuse of drugs and alcohol.
The delay in seeking and receiving a diagnosis and treatment may be due to a number of factors, such as stigma, a lack of human resources, restrictive government funding systems and lack of knowledge.
In addition, family physicians may not always recognize the pattern in an individual’s symptoms that
would lead them to a correct diagnosis.
Too often, the symptoms are not taken seriously and an individual with an anxiety disorder is labelled as being emotionally unstable.
Education of both the public and family physicians would help to solve this problem.
A recent review of anxiety disorders suggests that effective treatments include drug therapy (with anti-depressants or anti-anxiety drugs) and cognitive-behavioural therapy, which helps people turn their anxious thoughts into more rational and less anxietyproducing ideas.
Support groups for individuals and families can also help develop the tools for minimizing and coping with the symptoms.
Anxiety disorders can be well managed in the primary care setting.
Creating access to experts in cognitive-behaviour therapy through a shared-care model can help family
physicians provide optimal care for the individuals they are treating.
