As many as 20 percent of U.S. children and teens are found to be affected by anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric illness in children.
A recent study found that a popular antidepressant, well known as Zoloft, combined with three months of psychotherapy substantially helped children who suffered from anxiety disorders. The research also found that therapy by itself helped a lot as well. This was comforting to parents who worry about the affect of drugs on their children.
It was discovered that combining the drug sertraline, which is available as a generic and under the brand name Zoloft, along with therapy, worked best. Each method used alone also should major benefits, according to Dr. John Walkup, who is the lead author of the government-funded research and a Johns Hopkins Hospital psychiatrist.
Walkup said that children who were previously so anxious that they wouldn’t sleep alone, play with their friends, or leave home, had their symptoms almost disappear in many cases.
Sertraline is one of those antidepressants that is linked with suicidal thoughts and behavior in children having depression. Only a small amount of the 200 plus kids in this study had suicide thoughts and there were no suicide attempts, claimed Walkup. Suicidal tendencies are more prevalent in depression cases than anxiety related cases.
Mostly used to treat adult depression and anxiety, Zoloft is also approved for treating obsessive-compulsive disorder in kids, but not for anxiety. However, some doctors have used it for that. Also, some less intense and smaller studies have recommended that it as well as other antidepressants can help.
This new study is the largest examining treatment of childhood anxiety disorders and it was paid for by the National Institute of Mental Health.
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