Everyone gets anxious from time to time. But if you worry so much that it interferes with your life, your anxiety may have become an illness. Doctors call this illness generalised anxiety disorder. We're calling it anxiety disorder for short.

There are several good treatments for anxiety disorder, but there are no quick fixes and no cures.

Key points about treating anxiety disorder

• A talking treatment called cognitive behaviour therapy can work well for anxiety disorder, for adults, teenagers, and children.

• Drug treatments (including some antidepressants and a drug called buspirone) can also help.

• We don't know which works best: cognitive behaviour therapy or drug treatment. Different treatments suit different people.

• Your doctor may recommend a combination of cognitive behaviour therapy and drugs.

• A talking treatment called applied relaxation also works well.

• All drug treatments have side effects. You should discuss them with your doctor.

To learn more about how you may be treated see How anxiety disorder is treated.

How anxiety disorder is treated

If you've got anxiety disorder, you won't usually need to go to hospital. You'll be cared for mainly by your GP. You may also be referred to another GP in your practice who specialises in treating anxiety disorder, or to a hospital doctor.^[18] We can't say exactly how you'll be treated. But we can give you some idea about the way anxiety disorder is treated in general.^[18]

You and your doctor should decide together the best way to treat your anxiety disorder. And you should be given all the information you need to understand the different types of treatment that your doctor may suggest.

As a first step, you may be offered some of these.

• Your GP may provide support and advice about how you can help yourself (self-help). For example, your GP may recommend working from a book or a computer program for about five to 14 weeks. Self-help typically involves little contact with a health care professional. However, you may meet with or talk on the phone with a health care professional for a short time every week or fortnight.

• Your doctor may recommend attending a course with other people to learn about the symptoms of anxiety and how to manage them. You may meet every week for about six weeks.

• If your anxiety is very bad, your doctor may prescribe a benzodiazepine drug for a short time to help you relax and feel less worried. But you should only use this drug for two to four weeks. To learn more, see Benzodiazepines.

If the treatments above don't help, you may be offered one or both of these.

• Psychological treatment. This can be cognitive behaviour therapyor applied relaxation. Both involve weekly meetings with a health care professional for about three to four months.

• Drug treatment. You'll first be offered a type of antidepressant drugcalled a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI for short). Two examples are sertraline (brand name Lustral) and paroxetine (brand name Seroxat). If the first SSRI doesn't help you, your doctor may prescribe a different one or another type of antidepressant called a serotonin noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor (SNRI). Two examples are venlafaxine (Efexor) and duloxetine (Cymbalta). If antidepressants don't work for you, you may be offered a different type of medication called pregabalin.

If you don't seem to be getting better despite these treatments, your GP should refer you to a specialist. You may also be referred to a specialist if your symptoms are severe (for example, if you're at risk of self-harm or suicide), or you have other problems, such as drug or alcohol misuse.

While you are being treated for anxiety disorder you should see a doctor regularly, to check how you are getting on. If a medication is working, you should carry on taking it for at least a year, as this can help you stay well.