Anxiety Health Article

Alternative treatment

Alternative treatments for anxiety cover a variety of approaches. Meditation and mindfulness training are thought beneficial to patients with phobias and panic disorder. Hydrotherapy is useful to some anxious patients because it promotes general relaxation of the nervous system. Yoga, aikido, t'ai chi, and dance therapy help patients work with the physical, as well as the emotional, tensions that either promote anxiety or are created by the anxiety.

Homeopathy and traditional Chinese medicine approach anxiety as a symptom of a systemic disorder. Homeopathic practitioners select a remedy based on other associated symptoms and the patient's general constitution. Chinese medicine regards anxiety as a blockage of qi, or vital force, inside the patient's body that is most likely to affect the lung and large intestine meridian flow. The practitioner of Chinese medicine chooses acupuncture point locations and/or herbal therapy to move the qi and rebalance the entire system in relation to the lung and large intestine.

Aromatherapy using essential oils can also be beneficial in treating patients with anxiety. The oils go directly to the brain via the olfactory nerve (which controls smell) and can have direct affect on calming the nervous system.

Prognosis

The prognosis for resolution of anxiety depends on the specific disorder and a wide variety of factors, including the patient's age, sex, general health, living situation, belief system, social support network, and responses to different anxiolytic medications and forms of therapy.

Prevention

Humans have significant control over thoughts, and, therefore, may learn ways of preventing anxiety by changing irrational ideas and beliefs. Humans also have some power over anxiety arising from social and environmental conditions. Other forms of anxiety, however, are built into the human organism and its life cycle, and cannot be prevented or eliminated.

BOOKS

"Anxiety Disorders." In Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 4th ed. Washington, DC: The American Psychiatric Association, 1994.

Clark, R. Barkley. "Psychosocial Aspects of Pediatrics & Psychiatric Disorders." In Current Pediatric Diagnosis & Treatment, ed. William W. Hay Jr., et al. Stamford: Appleton & Lange, 1997.

Corbman, Gene R. "Anxiety Disorders." In Current Diagnosis. Vol. 9. Ed. Rex B. Conn, et al. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders Co., 1997.

Doctor, Ronald M., and Ada P. Kahn. The Encyclopedia of Phobias, Fears, and Anxieties. New York: Facts On File, 1989.

Eisendrath, Stuart J. "Psychiatric Disorders." In Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment, 1998. 37th ed. Ed. Stephen McPhee, et al. Stamford: Appleton & Lange, 1997.

Gaylin, Willard. Feelings: Our Vital Signs. New York: Ballantine Books, 1979.

Kabat-Zinn, Jon. Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 1990.

Rebecca J. Frey

KEY TERMS

Affect—An observed emotional expression or response. In some situations, anxiety would be considered an inappropriate affect.

Anxiolytic—A type of medication that helps to relieve anxiety.

Autonomic nervous system (ANS)—The part of the nervous system that supplies nerve endings in the blood vessels, heart, intestines, glands, and smooth muscles, and governs their involuntary functioning. The autonomic nervous system is responsible for the biochemical changes involved in experiences of anxiety.

Endocrine gland—A ductless gland, such as the pituitary, thyroid, or adrenal gland, that secretes its products directly into the blood or lymph.

Free-floating anxiety—Anxiety that lacks a definite focus or content.

Hyperarousal—A state or condition of muscular and emotional tension produced by hormones released during the fight-or-flight reaction.

Hypothalamus—A portion of the brain that regulates the autonomic nervous system, the release of hormones from the pituitary gland, sleep cycles, and body temperature.

Limbic system—A group of structures in the brain that includes the hypothalamus, amygdala, and hippocampus. The limbic system plays an important part in regulation of human moods and emotions. Many psychiatric disorders are related to malfunctioning of the limbic system.

Phobia—In psychoanalytic theory, a psychological defense against anxiety in which the patient displaces anxious feelings onto an external object, activity, or situation.