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Treatment of Phobias (cont.)
Patients also learn how their thinking patterns contribute to their anxiety and how changing their thoughts can help minimize symptoms. At the same time, anxiety management is often a component of exposure therapy, wherein patients learn deep breathing and relaxation techniques. People under treatment for a social phobia may also be steered to social skills training. Medications can be beneficial, too, depending on the patient and the phobia. While no drugs have been proven to be a cure or to treat specific phobias, some drugs are effective in relieving anxieties. For instance, someone with a fear of flying who seeks treatment because they have a flight they must take in two days may fare well with a short-term anti-anxiety drug like Xanax (alprazolam) or Klonopin (clonazepam). Someone who must make a series of flights over the next several months may be prescribed a longer-term medication, oftentimes along with regular exposure therapy. People with social phobias may take antidepressants (monoamine oxidase inhibitors, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or high potency benzodiazepines). Beta-blockers, drugs usually prescribed to control high blood pressure, are sometimes used for people who have a type of social phobia called performance phobia, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Some people believe that alcohol helps them reduce their social phobic anxieties. A recent study in the American Journal of Psychiatry indicates that belief alone can be powerful. Researchers at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor studied 40 patients who sought treatment for social phobia. The patients were asked to give two impromptu speeches. Half the subjects received a placebo alcoholic drink before each speech. The other half had a placebo alcoholic drink before the first speech, and a real alcoholic drink before the second. Researchers found no significant difference between the two groups in anxiety levels, subjectively, physiologically or cognitively. They concluded: "Alcohol does not directly reduce social phobic anxiety. The belief that one received alcohol may reduce social anxiety." What holds people back from seeking treatment for phobias? |
