Anxiety Disorder Research Paper

The strengths when working with clients on a medical model perspective is that the use of the DSM provides a common language to use in the medical community. The DSM provides reliability and structural guideline to each mental disorder. The structural guidelines in the DSM provide an organized list of criteria and specifiers to help determine the severity of the mental disorder. When diagnosing a client, there are many similar signs and symptoms to each mental disorder; thus, the DSM provides the clinician information about differential diagnosis, prevalence, possible co-morbidity, age of onset, and progressive development of symptoms. Hence, focusing on the medical model and using the DSM can be beneficial to both the client and the clinician providing treatment.

Being able to form a diagnosis properly for a client is a process that is wide-ranging and broad. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013) supports recommendations and standards for identifying a diagnosis for a client. The procedure of diagnosing is more than skimming for symptoms in the DSM; one must assess, interview and identify issues, as well as refer to the DSM for a diagnosis.

Generalized anxiety disorder “...is characterized by an excessive and inappropriate worrying that is persistent and not restricted to particular circumstances.” (Lader) I had to go to therapy for a little while after that to learn how to get my anxiety in order. At school and at home I would try my hardest to get it under control, but it was to little avail. I started looking at treatment options and I found many treatment options. The one that stuck out to me the most was cognitive behavioral therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy (or CBT) is “... a short-term, goal-oriented, psychotherapy treatment that takes a hands-on, practical approach to problem-solving.” (Martin) It seemed like a good option because it didn’t require medication, and it doesn’t take long; treatment can last five to ten months with about 50 minute sessions once a week. (Martin) Another thing that made me feel good about CBT is that it was going to help me to actually work through everything. “ It teaches a person different ways of thinking, behaving, and reacting to anxiety-producing and fearful situations.”(Brown) I was excited to see that there could be something that would help me to surmount my anxiety

This problem have improved but it is still a problem caused by the DSM. DSM-IV TR also does not consider patients subjective experience of a disorder. That is, the approach is not a dimensional approach as there is no first-person report but rather, observations are usually carried out which may neglect the more somatic and psychological processes that underlie the symptoms (Flanagan, Davidson & Strauss, 2007).3 Also, DSM causes most clinicians to be primarily concerned with the signs and symptoms of a disorder rather than the underlying cause by giving a list of certain criteria for diagnosis.

In chapter 3 of Ronald J. Comer’s book, Fundamentals of Abnormal Psychology, it explains and defines the importance of the assessment of a client. Along with other topics, it explains many factors and objectives of diagnosis and treatment of clients. The first topic is the importance and purpose of psychological assessment. In order to know what the client is going through, the clinician must know background information of the client. This includes knowing past significant events, discovering who the client, as a person, is, the client’s thoughts, daily life and symptoms that the client is feeling. The clinician uses all of this information, in

Abnormal psychology is the study of behaviors, emotions, or thoughts considered abnormal or unusual, which can then be categorized into mental disorders. There are a plethora of classification systems and models used to diagnose and determine mental disorders, including the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) and the Research Domain Criteria Project (RDoC). The DSM is a classification system that defines a disorder with a set of signs and symptoms. The RDoC aims to influence future DSMs by aiding in the understanding of what causes mental disorders, not just the signs and symptoms. Another useful tool for diagnosing mental disorders is the medical model of mental disorders. This model states that every mental disorder has a cause, which means theoretically, every disorder is treatable.

* A clinical diagnosis can help to determine if the individual has the characteristics of the typical person has if is affected by the disorder.

Psychiatric diagnosis can help determine treatment for unexplained behavior. A study by the WPA-WHO Global Survey resulted in over two-thirds of the participants maintained that a diagnostic system based on clinical descriptions is more useful than one based on operational criteria (Maj, 2011). The DSM-IV users endorsing this position was slightly higher than the ICD-10 users (Maj, 2011). This study does support the notion that the diagnostic system can be helpful at times to specific

some anxiety problems. During the clinical interview, it would be important for the client to complete the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL) that is a self-rating form that would evaluate the stressor information in the client’s life.

Discrimination of the severity of problems or disorders requires assessment and methods that are sensitive to variation in the frequency, intensity, and duration of specific symptoms. For example a patient with an obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) may have suffered from obsessive behaviour of being contaminated by germs or dirt for several years, yet is still able to be successful in studies to become a doctor. Another patient with OCD may find difficulty to work in a hospital with compulsive behaviour of over washing hands with concerns about contamination of germs. This individual may be unsuccessful in his or her career. Thus psychologist must consider individual`s overall life functioning and competence in order to have a complete understanding

There are a wide range of mental disorders, this condition affects an individual’s mood, and how they think and their behavior. Often a mental disorder is discovered during infancy, childhood, or adolescence and symptoms may continue to get worse, but also can go away as the child ages. It is best to obtain an early diagnosis for early treatment options. Treatment can help the patient defeat the disorder or help improve the patient’s well-being. There are various diagnostic test utilized to help diagnose mental health problems. If sign of a mental disorder start to take place the physician may order a physiological assessment that may include a laboratory test, brain scan, electroencephalograms (EEGs) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

This disorder have treatments such as therapies one of which is cognitive behavioral therapy, pharmacological therapy such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. (2) Generalized anxiety was first called anxiety neurosis it was a relatively recent diagnosis and was first discovered by Sigmund Freud in 1894 and was characterized by Freud as a “ feelings of unattached fearfulness described as free- floating anxiety” (3) This disorder which is described by Freud includes the symptom of panic, a panic disorder is a separate illness according to Melanie Klein

Anxiety is a feeling of fear, restlessness and unease about a situation that is approaching and at the same time we are unclear about what this situation is or what the exact reason for our state of malaise is. Unlike in fear, where we know exactly what is that we fear and what its causes are. For example, being assaulted in that situation we can experience the specific fear that we are being assaulted.

Anxiety disorders are distressing, and impairing conditions, associated with significant social costs (Palazzo, Altamura, Stein, & Baldwin, 2014). There are many different types of treatment for anxiety disorders. Some are more effective than others. The studies within this paper will further tell us about anxiety disorder, different types of treatments, and treatment effectiveness.

I will then discuss my primary diagnoses which is Major depressive disorder and as my differential diagnoses which is general anxiety disorder, I will then go onto to the prognostic treatment for patient