Treatment of anxiety in the clinic MedicoMente – Kiev, Ukraine

Anxiety as an emotion is characterized by negative, unpleasant experiences caused by an irrational expectation of something bad and not related to objective real events. It differs from fear in that it is a pointless and unreasonable experience, while fear is a reaction to a specific threat.

Treatment of anxiety becomes necessary when it begins to affect the quality of life, becomes frequent and uncontrollable. The normal level of anxiety, especially as a reaction to new and unknown events, is temporary. Prolonged anxiety can have a disruptive effect on life, contribute to the development of mental illness. There is no consensus among experts about the causes of anxiety, and, most likely, it has a dual nature congenital and acquired.

Risk factors for anxiety:

• Heredity;
• Troubled family;
• Chronic stress;
• Psychological and physical abuse;
• Somatic disorders;
• Specific features of nervous system;
• Low self-esteem.

Psychologic-assisted treatment of anxiety is recommended only if it is not a symptom of a severe mental illness.

Symptoms of anxiety are manifested at the physical, mental and behavioral levels, while the frequency of symptoms, their combination and intensity are individual for each person.

Mental signs:

• Sleep disorders;
• Anxious obsessive thoughts;
• Sneaky feelings;
• Panic attacks;
• Nervousness;
• Worry;
• Thoughts of suicide.

Physical signs:

• Physical weakness or, on the contrary, excessive tension;
• Active sweating;
• Shortness of breath;
• Accelerated heartbeat;
• Lump in throat feeling;
• Dry mouth.

Behavioral signs:

• Walking aimlessly or rearranging things;
• Eating disorders (refusal to eat, compulsive overeating);
• Inability to stay in one position for a long time (restlessness);
• Constant touching of the face, hair and other parts of the body;
• Itching worsening in stressful situations and, as a consequence, a violation of the integrity of the skin due to scratching or self-harm.

To learn how to get rid of anxiety, we need to understand the type of anxiety disorder that is determined during diagnostic activities. Anxiety disorders include:

• generalized anxiety disorder, when anxiety occurs for a variety of reasons;
• anxiety-phobic disorders, i.e. agoraphobia, specific phobias (fear of animals, natural forces, medical procedures, individual situations);
• panic disorder, when spontaneous panic attacks occur;
• social anxiety disorder associated with fear of negative reactions during social interactions;
• post-traumatic stress disorder as a reaction to a traumatic event;
• emotional disorders, usually occurring in childhood;
• situational or reactive anxiety associated with external factors and situations;
• obsessive-compulsive disorder, which combines obsessive thoughts and repetitive actions;
• selective mutism, characterized by a loss of the ability to speak under certain stressful conditions;
• anxiety personality disorders associated with a feature of the character and personality of a person;
• neurotic anxiety arising as a reaction to an unknown or impending danger.

To make the correct diagnosis, it is necessary to exclude the somatic cause because many endocrine, cardiovascular, digestive and other disorders have similar symptoms. For this, laboratory and instrumental studies, additional examinations are recommended.

As anxiety disorder have no objective biomarkers and unique symptoms, its diagnosis is based on symptoms that recur for at least six months or more, and negatively affect the level of health and quality of life.

Specialists use the following methods for diagnosing the presence and level of anxiety:

• Beck, Taylor, Zung anxiety rating scales;
• the Hamilton anxiety rating scale;
• patient health questionnaire (PHQ);
• hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS).

The diagnosed anxiety disorder is a chronic condition with periods of exacerbations against the background of trigger (provoking) factors and events.

The goal of treatment is to reduce the severity of and, if possible, eliminate the symptoms of anxiety and improve the patient’s quality of life.
The following approaches are used:

• Psychotherapy. Most anxiety disorders are associated with the functioning of the psyche. This is a kind of response to traumatic events the patient is not always aware of. Therefore, a professional psychologist can help in the treatment and overcoming of anxiety. Psychotherapeutic methods help understand the causes of anxiety, work out new reactions to traumatic events and successfully cope with anxiety attacks.
• Pharmaco-hypnotic effects. Achieving a comfortable state of safety and complete relaxation with the help of special medical hypnotics provides the most effective and fast way to solve an urgent problem, actively work out individual factors that led to an increase in anxiety, perform a successful suggestive influence.
• Clinical hypnosis. A feature of Ericksonian hypnosis is its relative short duration; thus, sometimes the combination of these techniques of hypnosis is called “short-term therapy” – getting a quick therapeutic effect in a relatively short period of time. The effectiveness of hypnotherapy for various diseases has long been proven, and its positive therapeutic effect has been established in almost any disease which is accompanied by the regulatory dysfunctions of the central nervous system.
• Medication. Prescribed exclusively by a psychiatrist based on the test results. If drugs with a mild sedative effect do not help, the doctor may prescribe drugs such as beta-blockers, tranquilizers, and antidepressants to gently and effectively affect the nervous system and improve the patient’s condition.
• Psychedelic sessions. Often, the use of classical treatments for anxiety-emotional disorders does not give the desired result; for this purpose, the world’s leading medical centers use substances that can temporarily change the level of consciousness and perception: psychedelics. Having put a person deep into a psychedelic trip, the depths of subconsciousness, a person forever gets rid of triggers and irritants that cause the same active mental imbalance.

MedicoMente, a modern medical center, has all necessary conditions for the diagnosis and treatment of anxiety disorders. Our doctors use laboratory and imaging research methods to make an accurate diagnosis and determine the most effective treatment strategy.

Combination therapy of anxiety disorders is based on identifying the nature of the symptoms and factors that exacerbate or alleviate the disease.

Our services:

• Free initial consultation with a field specialist;
• Diagnostic measures (as per indications);
• Medication (if necessary);
• A course of clinical psychotherapy;
• Inpatient treatment in hotel-type wards;
• Additional recovery treatments (physiotherapy, massage, balanced nutrition);
• Prevention of anxiety disorders.

If you or your loved one have signs similar to those of anxiety disorder, please do not hesitate to contact our medical center and we will help you to cope with this problem!

The cost of services is calculated for each patient individually according to the clinic’s price list, treatment regimen, and state at admission.

Making an appointment is quite simple:

• by phone +38-095 -550-85-25
  or
• by E-mail: info@medicomente.com
  or
• fill in the form at https://medicomente.com/kontakty/

Visit us at:
Medovaia Str., 10., Kalyna horticultural society, Hnedynska village council, Boryspil district, Kyiv region