An extensive research in the epistemology, causes, approaches and treatment methods of generalized anxiety disorder

One of the anxiety disorders that has a high coexistence with other disorders is generalized anxiety disorder. Considering the prevalence and debilitating nature of this disorder, it is very important to identify effective treatments with high potential to improve the treatment outcomes of people with generalized anxiety disorder. It was not found to deal with the descriptive review method.

The aim of the present study is to review effective therapeutic interventions on generalized anxiety disorder.

The present study was a descriptive review. Using the keywords of generalized anxiety disorder, treatment methods and psychological treatment, a search was conducted in specific databases such as Medline, SID, Magiran, PubMed, Scopus and Science Direct. A total of 73 articles were retrieved, and after checking the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 21 articles, including those that were not directly related to the topic of discussion, as well as articles with duplicate findings, were removed.

A review of studies showed that the main approaches used for the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder are pharmacological and psychological approaches, that psychological treatments such as emotional schema therapy, education based on acceptance and commitment, and applied relaxation are more effective than drug treatment.

The results of the review and investigation of previous internal and external studies showed that according to the characteristics of anxiety disorders, especially generalized anxiety disorder, which have a great impact on people's cognition, psychological treatment processes with a cognitive-behavioral approach, including those based on acceptance and commitment and emotional therapy schema have a greater and longer effect on the treatment and reduction of the symptoms of this disorder.