Disparities in Offered Anxiety Treatments Among Minorities

Purpose The primary purpose of this article was to determine if race and ethnicity played a role in if primary care physicians offered anxiety treatment in office visits by adult patients who were diagnosed with an anxiety disorder(s). Methods This study pooled data from the 2011 to 2018 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) that included adult patients with an anxiety disorder and the type of treatment offered to them. Logistic regressions were performed to examine the odds of offered anxiety treatment in office visits by non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, and other race/ethnicity patients compared to office visits by non-Hispanic White patients. Results Physicians offered anxiety treatment in more than half of office visits where the patient was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Providers offered counseling or talk therapy in less than 13% of all office visits. Office visits by non-Hispanic Black patients had half the odds of being offered counseling/talk therapy ( P = .068) compared to those by non-Hispanic White patients. Conclusions These findings suggest that statistically significant differences in the offering of any anxiety treatments in office visits to minorities compared to non-Hispanic White patients do not exist; however, there are still differences in the rates of counseling/talk therapy offered in office visits by minorities versus non-minorities. Future studies may want to examine reasons for lower rates of counseling/talk therapy offered to minority and majority patients and the specific pharmacological or therapeutic treatments offered to different races.

The randomized clinical trial results of the anxiety treatment in patients with somatoform dysfunction and neurotic disorders

The existing treatments for somatoform dysfunction (SfD), reaction to severe stress (RSS), and adjustment disorders (AjD) are insufficiently effective and safe. Anxiolytic drug Tenoten proved effective in clinical trials (CT). The aim of this multicenter double-blind placebo-controlled randomized CT was to investigate the safety and efficacy of Tenoten in the treatment of anxiety in adults with SfD, RSS, AjD and other neurotic disorders (oNDs). 390 adult patients with SfD, RSS and AjD or oNDs with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale-anxiety (HADS-A) score ≥ 11 were randomized into 4 groups (n = 127 in Tenoten group 1 (4 tablets/day); n = 131 in Tenoten group 3 (8 tablets/day), n = 132 in combined Placebo group 2 + 4). The changes from baseline in the mean Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) score in groups 1 and 3 after 12 weeks were the primary outcome. The decrease of the HAM-A score from 18.81 ± 5.81 to 7.26 ± 4.63 (in group 1) and from 18.38 ± 4.3 to 6.40 ± 4.02 (in group 3) was observed post-treatment (pgroup 1/placebo = 0.0055, pgroup 3/placebo < 0.0001). Overall, 46 adverse events (28 in the Tenoten groups and 18 in the Placebo) were reported without any difference between the study groups. Tenoten performed significantly more effective than placebo in the anxiety treatment of adults with SfD, RSS, AjD and oNDs (clinicaltrials.gov NCT03036293).

Conditions in Which Math Anxiety Decrements Performance on Working Memory Capacity Measures

Experiencing math anxiety comes with cognitive costs. The purpose of this study was to test the conditions under which math anxiety decrements working memory capacity. Half the sample of female undergraduate participants received a warning that the study would involve a difficult math task. All participants then completed two working memory assessments, one math-related task and one non-math-related task. Math anxiety was assessed with a short Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale. Results suggest that math-anxious individuals given a warning performed worse than both those without the warning and non-math-anxious individuals. The decrements from math anxiety appeared to specifically harm performance on tasks that overtly involve math as it seems that people struggle most when they plan to struggle. This could provide insight for anxiety treatment in educational and clinical settings.

Qur’an Recitation Therapy as Anxiety Treatment

Anxiety is an uncomfortable, pleasant, indistinct and pleasant feeling with autonomic symptoms. Many internal and external factors cause anxiety in a person. The human body tries to maintain homeostasis at all times. Anything that disrupts homeostasis is defined as a stressor by the body. To compensate for stressors and to restore homeostatic equilibrium, physiological adaptations occur in response to stress. This adaptation involves a hormonal cascade along the HPA axis, namely the release of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) which stimulates the release of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and causes the release of stress hormones (glucocorticoids and epinephrine) from the adrenal cortex. Glucocorticoids will provide negative feedback (negative feedback) to the hypothalamus, thereby reducing the release of CRF. Non-pharmacological intervention anxiety that has lower side effects is safer and can be used for a more extended period compared to anti-anxiety drugs. The recitation of the Al-Qur'an generates alpha waves, which are waves that appear when someone is relaxing. Increased alpha waves can reduce symptoms of anxiety.

The Potential of Video Game Streaming as Exposure Therapy for Social Anxiety

Social anxiety is a prevalent problem that affects many people with varying severity; digital exposure therapy-which involves controlled exposure to simulations of feared social situations alongside cognitive restructuring-can help treat patients with anxieties. However, the need to personalize exposure scenarios and simulate audiences are barriers to treating social anxieties through digital exposure. In this paper, we propose game streaming as an exposure therapy paradigm for social anxiety, supporting it with data from two studies. We first propose a framework describing requirements for exposure therapy and how game streaming can fulfill them. We select demand and performance visibility from these characteristics to showcase how to manipulate them for experiences of gradual exposure. With Study 1, we provide evidence for these characteristics and support for the framework by showing that a game's demand affected expected fear of streaming games. In Study 2, we show that the prospect of streaming led to elevated fear, a necessary property for effective exposure therapy. Further, we show that the effect of streaming on expected fear was similar for participants who can be considered socially anxious. These findings provide evidence for the essential effect of exposure therapy, which serves as a first step towards the validation of streaming as a social anxiety treatment. Our paper provides an initial, important step towards a novel, broadly applicable, and widely accessible digital approach for the treatment of social anxiety.

Imagery rescripting versus cognitive restructuring for social anxiety: Treatment effects and working mechanisms

Background Negative mental images in social anxiety are often linked to memories of distressing social experiences. Imagery Rescripting (ImRs) has been found to be a promising intervention to target aversive memories, but mechanisms underlying ImRs are largely unknown. The present study aimed (a) to investigate the effects of ImRs compared to cognitive restructuring (CR) on social anxiety symptoms and (b) to extend previous research by examining whether ImRs works by fostering reappraisal of negative emotional self-beliefs. Method Highly socially anxious individuals (N = 77) were randomly allocated to ImRs, CR, or no intervention control (NIC). A speech task was performed at baseline and at 1-week follow-up. Results Only CR significantly reduced social anxiety symptoms from baseline to follow-up. Decreases in negative appraisals and emotional distress in response to the speech task did not differ between conditions. Regarding working mechanisms, ImRs led to stronger increases in positive emotions than CR and NIC. Both CR and ImRs yielded short-term reductions in emotionally anchored idiosyncratic self-beliefs, but CR was superior to ImRs at follow-up. Conclusions The present study provides evidence for the efficacy of a single-session of CR for social anxiety symptoms. As one specific version of ImRs was applied, it is conceivable that other or optimized versions of ImRs might be more effective.