What really works in anxiety disorders: we’ll add an exercise to the therapeutic combinations

Anxiety disorders are very common and burdensome conditions with lifetime prevalence about 30 %. Experimental evidence supports

both psychotherapy as well as pharmacotherapy as effective treatment. There might be some evidence for superiority of combination

therapy under some condition, e.g. in the acute and maintenance phase of treatment of panic disorder, social phobia, or obsessive

compulsive disorder.

Third important part of the treatment combinations should be a physical activity. Physical activity (mainly aerobic exercise) is associated

with range of health benefits; its absence can have harmful effects on health (increasing the risk for coronary heart disease, diabetes,

hypertension, obesity, cancer), and may also be associated with the development of mental disorders. It is clear, that physical activity

and exercise have the positive effects on mood and anxiety in both clinical and nonclinical populations. The mechanisms responsible for

exercise-related improvements in anxiety disorders are not all known, and it is most likely to be a complex interaction of psychological

and neurobiological mechanisms underlying, mediating and/or moderating these effects.

Keywords: treatment of anxiety disorders, combination of psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy, physical activity, exercise