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Historical Treatments for Anxiety

The doctor may have called your anxiety "nervous exhaustion" in the 1870's. In the 1950s', a psychiatrist may have suggested rational emotive therapy for anxious nerves. Cognitive therapy was the mental health cure-all in the 1970's. Today's anxiety treatments have high success rates due, in part, to the trial and error remedies of the past.

  1. Anxiety Treatments in the 1870's

    • A home physician manual of the 1870s suggests patients with "nervous exhaustion" refrain from "excess exercise" because this will increase the strain to the nervous system. Strychnine, arsenic and quinine were commonly given, at this time, for anxiety. In severe cases, a "white-hot iron" was applied along the spine.

    Anxiety Treatments in the 1920's

    • Patients with anxiety were exposed to their fears as a form of treatment in the 1920's. This treatment method is still employed today. Radionics was another popular anxiety treatment of the time. Patients were attached to various devices which, supposedly, vibrated healthy energy to unhealthy parts of the body.

    Anxiety Treatments of 1950's

    • Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) was developed in the mid-1950's by psychologist Albert Ellis. Still practiced today, REBT has patients examine how their thinking influences their moods. Ellis argued a negative situation was only negative if the individual believed it was negative. REBT patients learn how to eliminate anxiety-producing thoughts and replace them with positive thinking.

    Anxiety Treatments of the 1970's

    • Psychologist Aaron Beck is the founder of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Similar to the theories of Albert Ellis, CBT was a new and popular treatment of all mental health problems in the 1970's. CBT challenges anxious patients to examine their thoughts for errors in logic. The thought, "No one likes me" is considered, according to CBT, an overgeneralization. Factually, "No one likes me" is an improbable thought unless the entire world's population expressed dislike.

    Modern Anxiety Treatments

    • Don't expect any white-hot irons with today's anxiety treatments. Quinine and strychnine have been replaced with anti-anxiety and anti-depressant medications like Prozac. Still, phobias are successfully treated with exposure techniques like in the 1920's. Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck are considered pioneers in the area of cognitive therapy which is, today, the most successful treatment method for anxiety disorders in both adults and children.

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