It is not that uncommon for a child or an adult to be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder or multiple anxiety disorders like Generalized anxiety disorder(GAD), Social anxiety disorder(SAD), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder(OCD), etc.
About 40 million people have some form of an anxiety disorder yet only about 36.9 percent of people seek help for this type of illness. But many advancements in medicine and psychotherapy have gave people different options to treat their anxiety disorders and make them better. Selective Serotonin Reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are very common types of antidepressant medications like Celexa, Lexapro, Prozac, ect.
They are used to treat many anxiety disorders. SSRIs work by affecting your brains chemistry ultimately slowing it down by re-absorption of serotonin. The chemical serotonin communicates with each other to increase the amount of signals between neurons.
SSRIs are effective antidepressants that help to control anxiety and mood. For those who are allergic to SSRIs or for those people that SSRIs don’t work well for there is a very common psychotherapy that is called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy(CBT). This kind of therapy strategy focuses on learning how to develop coping strategies that can help solve current problems and help change unhelpful patterns that are in behavior, emotions, and cognitions. This kind of therapy is a very helpful therapy because you learn skills and coping skills that can help you learn to treat and cope with your anxiety condition. As a person who has a friend who has an anxiety disorder. And who has another friend that has a cousin that is struggling with an anxiety disorder I found it important to research this topic to find out which is a better treatment option for anxiety cognitive behavioral therapy(CBT) or selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors(SSRIs).
Many people don’t know that while ssris have some potential benefits they also have some potential dangers. Two researchers agree that there are potential dangers in the use of SSRIs. While Kim Wilton and Tracey Walker agree that SSRIs are dangerous they talk about different dangers and risks associated with the use of SSRIs. Kim Wilton talks about the use of SSRIs among children adolescents while Tracey Walker talks about the use during pregnancy. Kim Wilton is a second-year law student and she explains in a section of her paper that there are risks associated with the use of ssris in children.
One of these risks includes an increase in suicidal thoughts and actions. She says that “Notably, the SSRI Paxil was found to create two times as much suicidal idolization in childhood, compared to a placebo.” This is because the child’s brain chemistry is not fully matured yet, but children aren’t the only ones affected by ssris because She does go on to say that studies have shown adults to have increase suicidality also, but it was small. Although there are dangers to children using ssris there are potential dangers to women using ssris as well especially while pregnant as explained by Tracey Walker the article backs up the potential dangers of using ssris during pregnancy. She points out that there are risks involved such as birth defects, miscarriage, preterm birth, growth defects, and other complications with women who take ssris during pregnancy.
She points out that long term effects of ssris in the children that were exposed during pregnancy are not known but they say there is evidence that shows an increased rate of neurobehavior complications that may include a doubling rate in autism. Both Kim Wilton and Tracey Walker point out the major dangers and risks associated with ssris and the impacts they can have on our kids during pregnancy and on children. Although the research is different it shows that there are dangers and risks associated with ssris.Many people have successfully been treated with CBT for their anxiety disorders.
researchers agree that CBT is quite effective and useful in treating anxiety conditions. While John Hunsley and Daniel Glenn agree that CBT is effective for treating anxiety John Hunsley adds the effectivness of specific anxiety disorders while Daniel Glenn looks at CBT and anxiety as a hole. John Hunsley a researcher at the university of Ottawa shows that social phobia(SP) or otherwise known as social anxiety disorder can be treated with many forms of CBT with considerable research behind them. In his research his review included a total of 33 studies that involved a total of 1,193 participants. He concluded that the results had shown marked benefits in patients who have received exposure-based CBT had significant benefits in treatment outcomes. He did another study on CBT treatment in GAD and found that forms of CBT had been quite efficacious across life span with evidence to prove its effectivness in adults and as well as the youth. He says that forms of CBT have also been found to be effective and efficacious in the treatment of OCD.
In the article by Daniel Glenn a researcher for University of Los Angeles department of Psychology acknowledges that CBT is quite effective in treating anxiety disorders. But he points out in his article that in order for CBT therapy to be effective it depends on the treatment dose and the level of engagement that the patient has. His findings suggest that higher doses in CBT and more patient engagement can be quite effective ways in improving treatment outcomes in CBT. Both John Hunsley and Daniel Glenn both do acknowledge the effective treatment of CBT, but Daniel Glenn adds the impacts of adding higher doses and patient engagement. Two researchers disagree In a review of the literature, it appears that ssris have significantly dangerous side effects and risks associated with the use of ssris in children and pregnant woman. Theses do sound quite dangerous however the benefits of ssris are not mentioned upon this paper and those are a big factor in considering ssris.
As far as CBT goes it is a pretty effective treatment in the case of Generalized anxiety disorders, Obsessive compulsive behavior, and Social anxiety disorder. But Daniel Glenn reminds us that CBT is quite effective at higher doses and when patients are engaged it shows significant improvement outcomes in patients.
