Anxiety treatment has gone from a stagnant state to an innovative period in the United States over the last few decades. New studies have introduced new ideas about how to treat anxiety and have thrown into question whether medication and therapy are the only two options available for treating chronic anxiety. One study showed promise with a substance derived from LSD that had significant reductions in the number of people with generalized anxiety disorder who continued to use that substance for extended periods. One dose of that substance, known as MM120, resulted in significant reductions in anxiety symptoms that lasted weeks after taking the substance. These results indicate that, in the near future, people seeking anxiety treatment may be able to benefit from taking fewer doses of substances that produce longer-lasting results.
MM120 will not be the only substance used to treat people seeking anxiety treatment. Researchers are studying psilocybin-assisted therapy as another answer. Psilocybin will be used in conjunction with psychotherapy using a trained therapist. Early results from the use of psilocybin to treat anxiety have shown that people with a history of not responding to standard anxiety medications may respond to psilocybin-assisted therapy and that the experience for almost all people has been an unusually intense experience, yet very liberating and will allow many participants to deal with fears and recurring patterns that they previously were unable to change.
New treatments for anxiety are being developed through innovative combinations of medications and devices (smartphone monitors and digital tools), advanced neuroscience, and pharmacological advances. The main goal of this change is to create a customized method to manage anxiety instead of all adults receiving the same level of care regardless of individual differences in biology or history.
There are challenges associated with bringing new anxiety therapies to market. There are regulatory hurdles associated with Drug approval, questions surrounding their long term safety, and cost associated with the introduction of new products of this type. A key issue with the introduction of new therapies is more likely to be the fairness of their distribution, as contemporary research indicates that many patients are receiving treatment from well-resourced locations such as psychiatrist offices.
The excitement surrounding the current research and hypothesis that new treatments would produce positive outcomes after failure with previous medications or therapies, gives renewed hope to the patient population currently dealing with anxiety as the research continues and standards begin to evolve there may be a wider variety of options available for patients diagnosed with anxiety.
Source:Compass Associates overview of future research transforming anxiety treatment.
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