Every child experiences anxiety, and usually a caring parent can help make it pass. But in 5 to 10 percent of cases, the problem goes deeper — panic attacks, obsessive behavior, depression — and the child can benefit from professional help. Link to read more

New York Times
By MICHAEL WINERIP
Published: July 20, 2008

Anxiety is a normal human response to stress, but in some, it can develop into a disabling disorder of excessive and irrational fears, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, or posttraumatic stress disorder. Effective treatments are available and can involve either behavioral therapy or medications. Although “it makes intuitive sense that combining these two treatments would result in even better results,” David Tolin, Ph.D. notes that has unfortunately not yet been the case and the majority of the evidence suggests that combined therapy is no more effective than behavior therapy alone, and in some cases can even be less effective. However, Dr. Tolin is one of the three authors on a meta-analysis scheduled for publication on June 15th in Biological Psychiatry, in which they evaluated a potentially important new treatment paradigm for anxiety. [continue reading…]

New York Times
Friday 11, July 2008
Benedict Carey

The study of anxiety is fast merging with the science of memory. No longer focused just on symptoms like social isolation and depressed mood, scientists are turning to the disorder’s neural roots, to how the brain records and consolidates in memory the frightening events that set off long-term anxiety. And they are finding that it may be possible to blunt the emotional impact of even the worst memories and fears. Link to read article

Source: New York Times