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Anxiety Disorders Research Paper

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Anxiety Disorders
The majority of Americans suffer from anxiety disorders that could occur at birth or may develop over time due to environmental factors. Anxiety disorders are a group of mental conditions that require licensed healthcare practitioners to recognize and treat properly. Healthcare providers and nurses must be well trained on recognizing the signs and symptoms of anxiety disorders in a wide variety of patients.
Anxiety disorders may sometimes be difficult to differentiate from normal stress. Many people are worried and exhibit symptoms of stress in their daily lives. As stated by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH, n.d), when unfounded anxiety prohibits the normal functioning of an individual, an anxiety disorder may …show more content…

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI, 2017) explained that many types of anxiety disorders exist, which may be classified by symptoms. NAMI (2017) described patients with excessive worrying, difficulty concentrating, and nausea as having generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). This is a common type of anxiety disorder. Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is defined by an intense fear of social situations, accompanied by irrational concerns about humiliation, reported NAMI (2017). Patients with social anxiety disorder may experience a panic attack when forced into an unwanted social situation (NAMI, 2017). These patients fear social situations. A similar disorder is panic disorder; patients undergo panic attacks, which are similar to heart attacks (NAMI, 2017). According to these authors, panic attacks may involve chest pains, heart palpitations, dizziness, and shortness of breath. Panic disorder is only one form of anxiety disorder that patients may have. NAMI (2017) explained further how some patients may be diagnosed with phobias, because they have extreme reactions and irrational fears to specific places, events, or objects. Many other types of anxiety disorders have been classified. Other types include agoraphobia, selective mutism, separation anxiety disorder, and a substance abuse (NAMI, 2017). In order to properly identify the type of anxiety disorder the patient might present with, nurses should be knowledgeable about the causes of anxiety

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