Things You Should Know About Treating Anxiety Disorder
Thursday, October 29th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed
This article will provide a brief overview of the contents of the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Treatment of Patients with Panic Disorder, in an effort to help you understand how your mental health professional is most likely to approach you when {treating anxiety disorder.~In an effort to help you understand how your psychiatrist or psychologist is likely to approach you when treating anxiety, this article will provide you with a brief overview of the contents of the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA), Treatment of Patients with Panic Disorder.~Following is a brief overview of the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA), Treatment of Patients with Panic Disorder, to help you understand how your mental health professional is likely to approach you when treating panic disorder.~The American Psychiatric Association’s (APA), Treatment of Patients with Panic Disorder set out the steps in treating anxiety, and following is a brief overview of that clinical reference.} This information has been paraphrased so that ordinary people, who are not clinicians can understand it. On the APA’s website, the guide has been updated as recently as January 2009, although it was first published in 1998. This is the most widely used guidance for doctors, which is why it is important for those suffering from panic disorder to know about it and understand what’s in it, and it was developed by a work group, rather than one single psychiatrist.
Involving All Your Care-Givers
Keeping all your doctors in the loop is one of the first recommendations given in the guidelines, as is stressing that, as part of your disorder, you will very likely be anxious about treatment. Your doctor is encouraged by the guidance to instruct you on what to do when you feel like your attack is reaching the level of an emergency – whether you should page them, go to the emergency department, or even call 911, if you feel it’s warranted.
As to Psychiatric Assessments
Because panic attacks can be caused by other medical conditions, your doctor is instructed to conduct a thorough assessment or examination to make sure that panic disorder is really what you have. (For more information on what types of questions you may be asked during this assessment, please refer to the article on this site titled, Panic Attack Treatment for Chronic Sufferers – What Your Doctor Will Ask, or visit the APA’s website and review a separate guideline called, Practice Guideline for the Psychiatric Evaluation of Adults, Second Edition.)
Your Own Customized Treatment Plan
The next step for your psychiatrist will be to develop a plan that fits your individual needs. The doctor will help you to figure out how often you have attacks, how those attacks manifest, and if you have any other phobias like agoraphobia. If you do not already keep a journal, your doctor may ask you to start.
Safety First
Making sure that your panic disorder does not put you in danger is your doctor’s duty. This not only means assessing you for the risk of suicidal thoughts, but to make sure that you are not prone to violence toward others.
Assessing Functional Impairment
Your doctor is further instructed by the guidelines to measure your level of functional impairment. Your doctor will want to know if your condition keeps you from doing ordinary things, such as driving a car, or if you may suffer from agoraphobia.
Developing Treatment Goals
The main focus of {treating anxiety disorder will be to reduce attacks, obviously, but your treatment goals will also include intermediate and long-term goals.~Obviously, the main focus of treating panic will be to cure or reduce your attacks, but will also include intermediate and long-term goals.~While the focal point of treating anxiety will be to cure you from panic attacks, there will also need to be intermediate and long-term goals.~Naturally, getting rid of panic attacks is going to be the focal point of treating panic, and this will include intermediate, as well as long-term goals.} This means that if you are going to be put on medication, the treatment goals should speak to when you can expect to be taken off the medication, or when your dosage can be stepped-down or lowered.
Keeping Track of Your Progress
Your psychiatrist is instructed by the guidelines to not only monitor how your panic disorder is coming along as the result of treatment, but to be aware should any other conditions start to show up during treatment.
Keeping You Abreast
Your clinician is finally instructed to keep you in the loop and let you know where you are with your panic disorder treatment.
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