Anxiety disorders, in general, for children and adolescents, can be a very big problem. A big issue is that anxiety disorders are often not the first diagnoses considered and they are often overlooked.

In the US, 60% of children report exposure to violence, abuse or other trauma in the past year. Traumatized children like Karina can present to treatment with a range of symptoms, including anxiety, irritability, disruptive behaviors, mood dysregulation, and developmental regression.

First line treatment of PTSD should always consist of psychotherapy but medications are often used in the hopes of further improving symptoms.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) works better than placebo and as well or better than fluoxetine for social anxiety disorder (SAD).

Most of us who prescribe benzodiazepines (BZs) have a love-hate relationship with them. On the one hand, they work quickly and effectively for anxiety and agitation, but on the other hand, we worry about sedative side effects and the fact that they can be difficult to taper because of withdrawal symptoms.

While psychotherapy remains the gold standard for treatment of post traumatic stress disorder, medications are often used to alleviate the symptoms of the illness.

Exposure and response prevention (ERP) is an extremely effective therapy. You can say with conviction that if a patient commits to this therapy, it really has a good chance of reducing suffering.

Some of the CBT techniques that have proven effective for panic disorder include breathing retraining, cognitive restructuring, and relaxation training.

Anxiety disorders are commonly seen in primary care, whether they present on their own, or comorbid with other illnesses. There’s good evidence for both cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and pharmacotherapy in anxiety disorders, but many patients don’t receive such treatment.

Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is the mainstay of OCD treatment and has been shown to be more effective and more durable than medication, but it can be insufficient.