Treatment

There are a number of effective treatment options for GAD. The first step will be to consult your doctor, who will be able to suggest treatment that is most suitable for you.  The recommended treatment may be Medication and/or Psychotherapy.  Amongst the most widespread forms of treatment used to alleviate the symptoms of GAD are:

• SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors)
• SNRIs (selective noradrenalin reuptake inhibitors)
• Buspirone
• Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)

And in difficult to treat cases one could consider using:

• Benzodiazepines with antidepressants
• Antipsychotic medication

Medication

Antidepressants can be very effective in treating the symptoms of GAD, particularly for those patients who are also suffering from depression as both conditions can be helped by the same medication. 

The most commonly used, effective treatment is with the SSRI antidepressants.  These drugs have an additional benefit in that they are also able to treat accompanying depression if this also occurs.

Historically, Benzodiazepines ahave been used for patients with GAD, although problems with side effects, dependence and misuse have reduced their use. They should only be used in certain cases and then only for a short periods.

Tricyclic antidepressants have also been shown to be helpful in bringing about an improvement in the anxiety symptoms of GAD. 

Psychotherapy

There is growing evidence to suggest that CBT is effective as a treatment for the symptoms of GAD.   It usually includes treatment that aims to reduce physiological symptoms, but is also directed at other aspects of GAD including worry and worry behaviours.

The CBT approaches developed for the treatment of GAD generally include teaching coping skills such as relaxation training for physical symptoms, teaching cognitive restructuring skills for the catastrophic thoughts associated with GAD, and providing exposure and response prevention to worry behaviours.   As GAD has a strong cognitive component, the inclusion of cognitive techniques to challenge worry thoughts seems particularly useful.

CBT appears to be an effective treatment for GAD but seems to take longer than the medications to be effective. CBT seems highly effective in helping preventing future episodes of anxiety, so it seems a combination of medication and CBT creates the best chance of effective treatment and future prevention. 

Your doctor will discuss what therapy is best suited to you.