Most anxiety disorders respond well to two types of treatment: medication and psychotherapy. These treatments are prescribed alone or in combination. Although not cures, both treatments are effective in relieving the symptoms of anxiety disorders, thus enabling individuals to pursue more healthy lives. The psychotherapy method is called cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and the objective of this therapy is to teach people with social anxiety disorder to react differently to the situations that trigger their anxiety symptoms, through counseling and talking to them.

Behavioral therapy

Behavioral therapy usually aims to change a person?s responses through various ways including relaxation techniques, such as breathing from the diaphragm, and through gradual exposure to what the patient finds frightening. Cognitive-behavioral therapy, similar to behavioral therapy, helps patients understand and accept their thought processes and resultant symptoms, so that they can choose to react differently to situations that cause their anxiety disorder.