Don’t worry, get attention training
Programs designed to alter a habitual focus on potential threats show promise in treating two common anxiety ailments
By Bruce Bower
For those who constantly worry about imagined catastrophes or freak out around others, here’s an attention-grabber. A few brief training sessions offer as much anxiety relief as psychotherapy or medication, at least for four months, two new studies find.
Attention training helps subjects practice how not to focus on threatening words or on photos of threatening faces. Administered by psychologist Nader Amir of San Diego State University and his colleagues, brief sessions enabled a majority of patients diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder to achieve remission. The disorder, estimated to affect 6.8 million U.S. adults, involves constant, exaggerated worries about impending disasters regarding health, money or other issues.
A similar form of attention guidance, directed by psychologist Norman Schmidt of Florida State University in Tallahassee, provided marked relief for many patients diagnosed with social anxiety disorder. About 15 million U.S. adults struggle with this condition, which is characterized by a debilitating dread of everyday social situations and a fear of being watched and judged by others.
In these studies, both published in the February Journal of Abnormal Psychology, attention training alleviated anxiety disorders just as effectively as cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy and antianxiety medication had in earlier investigations. Yet attention training requires minimal professional supervision, causes no side effects and could be completed over the Internet.