I found this interesting article on social anxiety disorder. The article gives information on how social anxiety disorder is one of the most common mental health problems. Many therapists in San Francisco struggle to implement an effective treatment. However, new research suggests that with cognitive behavioral therapy, the therapists may well be on their way.

Earlier research done by the scientists, show that cognitive behavioral therapy can effectively cause neurobiological changes in the brain of the patient suffering from anxiety disorders. A recent study undertaken by Swedish researchers aimed at investigating the link between the brain volume and internet delivered cognitive behavioral therapy. Any neurobiological changes were indicative of the effectiveness of the therapy.

The key components of the study

The study included 52 participants. 26 out of them suffered from social anxiety disorder. The participants suffering from social anxiety disorder were given an internet delivered cognitive behavioral therapy treatment for a period of nine weeks or they were treated with attention bias modification or ABM, which was administered through the internet for 4 weeks, twice weekly. The ABM treatment is an intervention program that aims to improve the cognitive bias that is responsible for detecting the threat. This is administered through the internet as well. After the treatment was over, they were given a magnetic resonance imaging or MRI test. The participants without social anxiety disorder were made to undergo only a MRI test.

The conclusive results

The results from the MRI test proved, that those participants who had social anxiety disorder responded to the CBT treatment much better than the ABM treatment. The results also displayed decrease in brain activity and volume due to cognitive behavioral therapy treatment in the amygdala region of the brain. The amygdala region of the brain is associated with the emotion and fear centers of the brain. The treatment of social anxiety disorder with the cognitive behavioral therapy technique was a complete success.

Effectiveness of the research

The size of the amygdala in the patients grew much smaller with the improvements in their social anxiety disorder. The survey proved that a reduction in the volume also resulted in the reduction in the activity of the brain. Researchers did a press release of the study from the Karolinska Institute, Umea Univeristy, Stockholm University, and Uppsla University. The researchers said that the study proves a positive relationship between social anxiety disorder and cognitive behavioral theory treatment. The researchers said that even though the number of subjects examined are small, the study effectively gives a comprehensive analysis of the two various post treatment changes.

Plans for the future

The conclusions of the study proved that social anxiety disorder is effectively treated with cognitive behavioral therapy in just nine weeks. The changes are not only in their behavior, but also in their brains. The researchers believe that this is the first step towards creating more comprehensive mental treatment plans. The next step is for the researchers to recruit more number of people with this condition and gain an effective insight into what parts of the brain are changing exactly in terms of volume and activity while the process of cognitive behavioral therapy is being conducted. They will test to see if the larger scale application of these treatment methods is possible.

If you are interested in effective treatment of your social anxiety disorder through cognitive behavioral therapy you should contact Patricia Hecht, MFT at (415) 813-0404 or through her website here.