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Anxiety – Addiction Treatment Strategies | Addiction Treatment Strategies

Panic Symptoms Increase Steadily, Not Acutely

Just like everyone else, people with panic disorder have real stress in their lives. They get laid off and they fight with their spouses. How such stresses affect their panic symptoms hasn’t been well understood, but a new study by researchers at Brown University presents the counterintuitive finding that certain kinds of stressful life events cause panic symptoms to increase gradually over succeeding months, rather than to spike immediately.
“We definitely expected the symptoms to get worse over time, but we also thought the symptoms would get worse right away,” said Ethan Moitra, a postdoctoral researcher in the…

Increased Light May Moderate Fearful Reactions

Biologists and psychologists know that light affects mood, but a new University of Virginia study indicates that light may also play a role in modulating fear and anxiety.
 Psychologist Brian Wiltgen and biologists Ignacio Provencio and Daniel Warthen of U.Va.’s College of Arts & Sciences worked together to combine studies of fear with research on how light affects physiology and behavior.Using mice as models, they learned that intense light enhances fear or anxiety in mice, which are nocturnal, in much the same way that darkness can intensify fear or anxiety in diurnal humans.The finding is published in the Aug. 1 issue of the…


When Substance Abuse Leads to Anxiety

Oct04

When Substance Abuse Leads to Anxiety

Substance abuse can lead to anxiety disorders, and vice versa. Either way, both problems need to be managed and treated together.
While substance abuse is serious enough on its own, users run the additional risk of developing an anxiety disorder as a side effect of abusing drugs or alcohol. And for a certain number of people with an anxiety disorder — estimates are 20 percent or more — turning to substance abuse will add a serious complication to their emotional problem. Fortunately, there are ways to treat both, regardless of which came first.
Substance Abuse and Anxiety Disorder: The Chemical Connection
Chemicals in drugs like…

Self-Medicating Increases Risk of Substance Abuse …

People who self-medicate — that is, to use alcohol or drugs to reduce unwanted feelings or anxiety — are at greater risk for a later substance abuse problem, according to a new study.
Self-medicating also appears to up the risk for social phobia in people with anxiety. People typically self-medicate in an effort to avoid more formal treatment, whether it be with psychotherapy or medications.
Canadian researchers led by Jennifer Robinson examined data collected through the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism survey. Their study was designed to measure the occurrence of substance use disorders in individuals with anxiety…