What You Should Know About Treating Anxiety 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. This article is written for the average person, rather than clinicians, and so much of it has been paraphrased. The APA’s guide was published first in 1998, and was updated on the APA’s website in January 2009. Because this guide is the most widely used guidance by doctors, it makes sense for those who suffer from panic disorder to know what it’s all about; and it is important to know that it was developed by a team, rather than just one psychiatrist.
Involvement Among All Care-Givers
Part and parcel of the condition is the fact that you are likely to be anxious about treatment, and that is the first thing the guidelines lay out, along with the recommendation that all your treating doctors be kept in the loop. 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
Your doctor is instructed to put you through a complete assessment or examination to make sure that panic disorder is really what you have and to also rule out any medical conditions that might be causing panic attacks, but that do not qualify as panic disorder. (For additional information on what such an assessment will entail you can visit the APA’s website and view a publication titled Practice Guideline for the Psychiatric Evaluation of Adults, Second Edition, or see a separate article on this site that lists questions your doctor is likely to ask you.)
Your Own Customized Treatment Plan
The next step for your psychiatrist will be to develop a plan that fits your individual needs. Working together, you and your doctor will look at the degree of other phobias, like agoraphobia, you might have, how often you experience panic attacks and how those attacks generally show up. Your doctor may ask you to start keeping a journal, if you don’t already do so.
Making Sure You are Safe
It is an obligation of your doctor to ensure that you are not in danger as the result of your panic disorder. That means he or she will carefully evaluate whether you are at risk of suicidal thoughts or feelings, or if your particular condition makes you more prone to act out in violent ways towards others.
Assessing Functional Impairment
Next, the guidelines instruct your doctor to figure out how functionally impaired you may be. 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.
Setting Up Treatment Goals
The main focus of treating panic disorder will be to reduce attacks, obviously, but your treatment goals will also include intermediate and long-term goals. Weaning you off prescribed drugs or at least stepping down your dosage will be part of your treatment goals.
Monitoring Your Progress
Your psychiatrist is supposed to monitor how well you are responding to treatment for your panic attacks, and to keep an eye out for any other conditions that he or she may notice during that treatment.
Keeping You in the Loop
Keeping you in the know about your panic disorder treatment is an important part of what your clinician is supposed to do.
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