Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety disorders have a high prev
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Anxiety disorders have a high prevalence and constitute some of the most frequent psychological problems seen in medical practice (Mavissakalian & Barlow, 1981). The purpose of this paper is to examine the very current research on the pharmacological treatment of agoraphobia. To this end, the paper first examines literature related to the kinds of drugs that are available for the disorder. An examination is then made of the drugs that are most commonly dispensed and their effects on certain kinds of patients. The final section of the review examines the effectiveness of using a combined pharmacological and behavioral approach to the treatment of agoraphobia. The review ends with the formulation of conclusions based on the reviewed research. Kinds of Drugs Available For Treatment Of Agoraphobia According to Bandelow, Sievert, Rothemeyer, Hajak, Broocks and Ruther (1995), there are a variety of medications currently available to physicians and clinicians for the treatment of agoraphobia. These drugs include: (1) the tricyclic antidepressants (e.g., imipramine and clomipramine); (2) benzodiazepines (e.g., alprazolam); (3) serotonin reuptake inhibitors (e.g. fluvoxamine) and (4) the monoamine oxidase inhibitor phenelzine. It is helpful here to briefly review some of the current research on these drugs. In this regard, in order to compare the efficacy and tolerability of diazepam and alprazolam for panic attacks and agoraphobia, Noyes, Burrows, Reich
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th DSM-III-R/ICD10 panic disorder and agoraphobia were interviewed about the psychopharmacological, psychological and alternative treatments they had received in the course of their illness.
Patients gave global statements about how satisfied they were with the various treatments they had experienced. Many patients received treatments that have never been investigated under controlled conditions.
Interview data indicated that the most common drug treatments, in descending order, were: 48% benzodiazepines, 42% tricyclic antidepressants, 32% herbal preparations, 29% neuroleptics, 7% selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and 6% beta blockers. Of the drug prescriptions, 63% were according to international standards.
Of the neuroleptics, two-thirds (63.3%) were prescribed by nonpsychiatric physicians, and only one-third by psychiatrists (33.3%). Tricyclic antidepressants were prescribed more often by psychiatrists (64.7%) than by non-psychiatrists (31.4%).
Among psychological treatments, autogenic training (43% of the patients) and psychodynamic therapy (33%) were used far more frequently than behavioral/cognitive therapy (20%). According to the authors, results confirmed the under-utilization of available effective
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Hajak Ruther, Fineberg Drummond, Ban Yang, Conclusions Based, Broocks Ruther, Ravaris Ahles, Garvey Normal, Mavissakalian Barlow, Pharmacological Interventions, Westenberg Slaap, panic disorder, tricyclic antidepressants, bandelow sievert rothemeyer, sievert rothemeyer, disorder agoraphobia, fineberg drummond, behavioral cognitive, bandelow sievert, rothemeyer hajak, ruther 1995, sievert rothemeyer hajak, panic disorder agoraphobia, fineberg drummond 1995, combined treatment, serotonin reuptake inhibitors,
Approximate Word count = 1910
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)
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