What Are the Best Treatments for Anxiety?

Experiencing anxiety from time to time is common for practically everyone. But anxiety disorders? Those are different. An anxiety disorder makes everyday life challenging and negatively impacts relationships, school or work performance, and physical health. 

Anxiety disorders are one of the most prevalent mental health concerns, affecting approximately 40 million U.S. adults over 18. The good news is that anxiety disorders are highly treatable. Even so, only 36.9% of those with an anxiety disorder seek treatment. Many don’t get the help they need due to the negative stigma surrounding mental health, while others may not realize they have a diagnosable and treatable illness.

There’s no reason you have to live every day suffering from uncomfortable anxiety symptoms. Learning about and recognizing the signs of anxiety and possible anxiety treatments available is the first step to getting the help you need. 

We Can Help

Types of Anxiety Disorders 

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Having generalized anxiety disorder means you experience worry, dread, and anxiety about any number of things every day of your life for six months or longer. With GAD, you may ruminate on things like worrying about your health, money, relationships, the state of the world, your children, and more. You could spend each day anxiety-ridden over almost anything when you have generalized anxiety disorder.

Panic Disorder (PD)

Panic disorder can be extremely uncomfortable and debilitating. When you struggle with this anxiety disorder, you experience frequent and unexpected panic attacks, which are likely to interfere with your everyday activities.

With panic disorder, your panic attacks cause overwhelming fear and often come on without warning or any obvious trigger. Because these episodes are unpredictable and debilitating, you may avoid situations and people as much as possible if you have PD. Left untreated, panic disorder could lead to agoraphobia and other mental health concerns.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

This anxiety disorder affects an astounding  2.2 million Americans. When you have OCD, you may experience frequent compulsions and obsessions or an overwhelming urge to repeat behaviors over and over again. These urges are extremely difficult to control, even when you recognize that they may be excessive.

You may fixate on your obsessions, which could interfere with your everyday life and relationships. Seeking anxiety treatment in Minnesota or wherever you are can help you overcome these urges and gain valuable coping skills so OCD doesn’t have to disrupt your life.

Social Anxiety

Social anxiety is surprisingly common, affecting approximately 15 million U.S. adults. With social anxiety, you fear performances and social situations for fear of judgment or unwanted harsh evaluation from others. You may have these fears based on your performance or even fear harsh judgment just being around others. 

When you struggle with social anxiety, you tend to avoid social activities at all costs, which is detrimental to school and work performance.  

Separation Anxiety

When you struggle with social anxiety disorder, you feel excessively anxious and fearful of being separated from certain people. You may worry about losing those closest to you and refuse to be away from them; if you must be separated, you may have trouble functioning.

PTSD

Post-traumatic stress disorder can occur following a traumatic life event. Whether that be a serious accident, abuse of any kind, witnessing a violent act, infidelity of a loved one, divorce, or any other trauma, PTSD is debilitating and very challenging to live with. 

When you experience PTSD, you may have symptoms such as:

• flashbacks
• intrusive memories about the trauma
• nightmares and trouble sleeping
• avoidance of certain things or places reminding you of the trauma
• irritability
• negative thinking

If any of the above anxiety disorders hits close to home for you, finding the best treatments for anxiety from a professional is a wise decision. Living with anxiety disorders disrupts your everyday life and can take away your joy and life fulfillment. The good news is that anxiety disorders are treatable. You just need to partner with a professional to help determine the best course of treatment for you.

Best Treatments for Anxiety

If you leave anxiety untreated, you can struggle with it for years to come. There’s no reason you have to live that way! The sooner you seek anxiety treatments, the sooner you can reclaim your life and live it without the constant debilitating effects of anxiety symptoms. 

We offer and assist with three types of anxiety treatments at Nexus of Hope. You may benefit from just one of the following or regain control of your life by combining all three.

1. Therapy

Psychotherapy is one of the best treatments for anxiety, whether alone or combined with other treatment options. When you struggle with anxiety, you often feel overwhelmed, anxious, exhausted, and stressed. 

Talking to a trained therapeutic professional is freeing. And, because they are trained in helping individuals like you navigate and overcome anxiety, you’ll finally develop the tools and strategies you need to feel more like yourself.

A mental health professional, like our team of experienced, compassionate psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners here at Nexus of Hope, can help you uncover the underlying causes of your anxiety, teach you relaxation and coping techniques, and revamp your negative thinking patterns.

2. Medication Management

Another one of the most common anxiety treatments is medication management. When used in conjunction with therapy, medication is generally safe and proven effective. If, after a thorough health evaluation, your clinician believes medication for anxiety could benefit you, they will determine the best prescription to suit your needs.

There are four classes of medications used to treat anxiety disorders.

• Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs)

SSRIs block specific brain nerve cells from reabsorbing serotonin, increasing available serotonin, thereby improving mood. This class of anxiety medications typically has fewer side effects than tricyclic antidepressants. 

 

• Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRIs)

SNRIs help reduce anxiety symptoms by increasing your brain’s serotonin and norepinephrine levels by inhibiting their reabsorption into brain nerve cells. Serotonin regulates your mood, while norepinephrine boosts alertness, attention, arousal, mood, sleep-wake cycle, and memory.

• Benzodiazepines

Benzos are highly effective for treating anxiety, but only in the short term. Because benzodiazepines are highly addictive, they are not typically prescribed for long-term treatment. They promote relaxation and reduce muscle tension, along with other anxiety symptoms.

 

• Tricyclic Antidepressants

Due to the addictive nature of benzos, some medical professionals prefer to prescribe tricyclic antidepressants when treating some anxiety disorders. This class of anxiety medication blocks the absorption of serotonin and norepinephrine in your brain’s presynaptic terminals, causing them to have an anti-depressant effect.

While it’s one of the best treatments for anxiety, medication may not be suitable for everyone. At Nexus of Hope, we’ll ensure you are only prescribed the appropriate medication if necessary. And if you do receive a prescription for anxiety, we will monitor your dosage closely and adjust things as needed.

3. Lifestyle Changes

You can do other things to reduce anxiety outside of therapy and medication management. In addition to therapy and medication management, you can improve your overall wellness by making dietary adjustments, including physical activity, and learning relaxation and meditation techniques.

Our team of professionals at Nexus of Hope can guide you in any of these areas, ensuring you get the most out of your treatment when you meet with your clinician and outside our facility.

Choose Nexus of Hope for High-Quality Anxiety Disorder Treatment in Minnesota

If you seek anxiety treatment in Minnesota, you’ll get top-notch, experienced, compassionate care at Nexus of Hope in Burnsville, MN. We offer comprehensive, holistic care and the best treatments for anxiety to help you regain control of your life and improve your overall wellness.

Along with our in-person Minnesota mental health services, we offer in-person and telemedicine evaluations for your convenience. Following your comprehensive intake evaluation, we’ll create the ideal individualized treatment plan tailored to your needs. 

At Nexus of Hope, we believe in providing personalized, compassionate, and collaborative treatment to help you overcome anxiety and prevent future mental health concerns. Contact us for more information about our high-quality Minnesota mental health services. We’re ready to help you get back to living your best life. 

Contact Us or Book Online