Generalized Anxiety Disorder: A Therapeutic Analysis

The purpose of this paper is to take the case of Adrian from a DSM-IV perspective and further analyze it from a more current DSM-5 perspective. Adrian is a 39-year-old Caucasian mother of two children, a son, age 12 and a daughter, age 7. The DSM-IV case study format has given Adrian a principle diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder and secondary diagnosis of social phobia. In the following paragraphs, this diagnosis will be discussed using the most recent DSM-5 criteria, other conditions to consider will be explored, the WHODAS and culture formulation interview will be utilized and examined and, lastly, a new DSM-5 diagnosis will be given.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is characterized by excessive anxiety and worry that is not limited to one subject, situation or activity (Nevid, Rathus & Greene, 2017). People with GAD are known to worry about many things in their lives; their health, their finances, their well-being and that of their children. It is a worry that can be describe as excess and one that impairs one from functioning (Nevid, Rathus & Greene, 2017).

Anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric disorder in the United States. Between 15 - 19% of the population suffers from this disorder, which impairs the quality of life and functioning (Stuart 218). What is anxiety? Abnormal Psychology describes anxiety as “an adaptive emotion that helps us plan and prepare for a possible theat.” The text book further states, “worrying about many different aspects of life becomes chronic, excessive, and unreasonable.” This is also known as generalized anxiety disorder or GAD (Butcher 201). DSM IV-TR specifies that GAD is a worry that occurs more days then not for at least 6 months, and that it must be experienced as difficult to control (Butcher 201). 25% of those that suffer from this

The patient, a thirty-three year old female singer, is having difficulty sleeping, simple activities like getting groceries tire the patient easy, complains of neck pain, and cannot concentrate. The patient experiences worry and anxiety. However, when asked about what specifically, many things were brought up but none were more important than the other.

Individuals who experience severe anxiety are unable to complete any tasks or rituals. During years, there have been many therapies that work

The cause of anxiety is often unknown by medical physicians and is extremely unique to each specific patient. There is a major controversy regarding the cause or influence of people's anxious behaviors that range from genetics to personal upbringings to catastrophic world events. Just as the cause of a person's anxiety is unique to them specifically, their method of treatment is just as personal. “Certain kinds of cognitive and behavioral therapy and certain medications have been found to be especially helpful for anxiety” ("Understanding the Facts | Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA."). Many physicians are demoralized from seeing what they have seen which stymies their ability to show sympathy in the pain the patients are experiencing.

One of the most common disorders in our society today is generalized anxiety disorder. I am going to dive in to the methods of treatment and thoroughly discuss the various ways this disorder is handled. I experience anxiety when it comes to being in large bodies of water and also when I see spiders. Treatment options for anxiety disorders range from herbal remedies to prescribed medication. There are so many treatment options that I had no idea were even a possibility. The treatments I am going to talk about and describe in depth are ones that I researched and were shown to have the highest success rate. This could be

Generalized Anxiety disorder is a highly prevalent, chronic, costly and disabling mental disorder (Tyrer & Baldwin, 2006). This disorder is defined by excessive and persistent worry and anxiety about everyday internal and external events. Other symptoms can be restlessness, fatigue, problems concentrating, irritability, and sleep issues. This journal article describes anxiety disorder and different types of treatments used to help patients with anxiety disorder.This research is primarily on the effects of psychological treatments of GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder). In the trial study, they compared psychotherapy with untreated controls and others psychotherapies they used pharmacotherapy. They did this to see if they could understand the overall effects of psychotherapy in GAD. They also wanted to take a closer look at long term effects. The study also wanted to include something that was not like the face to face studies of the past. They wanted to look at internet-based CBT and pharmacological treatment. They took 41 of the previous studies and examined them between their

105). The other more recent treatment for generalized anxiety disorder is selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).This type of medication became popular due to its ability to regulate serotonin. Also, another reason SSRIs became so popular is because it works for other disorders such as obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, panic attacks, and agoraphobia in lowering symptoms by as much as 80% in over 50% of people taking the medication (Anxiety Disorders; Treatment).

Generalized anxiety disorder(GAD) is much more than the normal anxiety people experience everyday. It is a chronic condition that is chracterized by excessive worry and anxiety, even though there aren't any reasonable explanations for the cause. It is diagnosed when a person spends a least 6 months worrying excessively about numerous everyday problems.

The beginning of the article by Borkovec and Roemer bring up an important part of anxiety disorder. They discussed the two different functions of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). There is the function were people can isolate due to their worries and anxiety. This is part of GAD that to me appears to be more common. GAD appears to be one of those disorders that can be minimized greatly by the public. In that sense it is close to the view on Depressive disorders; the person is just sad and they need to get over it. Anxiety Disorders can be a similar view, which they are just over thinking things. To me this could drive a person to isolate and sit with their thoughts. A person may know that they should not be anxious but still are and feel as though others would not understand why they are anxious or the public thinks that they are just being silly so I am just going to keep them to myself. Really a person should be talking about those feelings and letting them out to be able to better deal with the feelings, worries and thoughts of anxieties. This brings up the section function of GAD which was the positive aspect. The authors discussed how it can promote problem solving and coping skills to be prepared and change one’s life and thoughts. A person should be talking about their thoughts and anxieties and when they talk about it have a problem solving discussion. A how can I change this? It is one hundred percent easier said than done but I believe that is part of the

Anxiety Disorders are characterized by many symptoms and often associated with depressive tendencies. Although the majority are produced in a person based off of their genetic material, other influences exist environmentally that can encourage or discourage the severity of the symptoms and prognosis it has on one’s overall well-being. Early diagnosis and a systematic combination of treatments can help reduce the tensions and encourage a more normal life than what was previously experienced by the person with the disorder.

Most people have an internal issue they would like to change about themselves. Whether it be a specific phobia, social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder or agoraphobia many will hide those things that frustrate them. Confidentially speaking, I am a victim of generalized anxiety disorder. Until recently, I have hidden depression, fear and a nervous sickness from all my family and friends. “As of 2013, one in nine people worldwide has had an anxiety disorder in the past year.” (Craske & Stein, p. 3048) Fear is the result of sensing an imminent threat, whereas anxiety anticipates a perceived future threat. Both fear and anxiety are common reactions in everyday life. However, when anxiety persist and interferes with

I have a very close friend of mine who suffers from a mixture of depression and generalized anxiety disorder. The more prevalent of these from talking to her and just from having known her for quite some time now would for sure be her generalized anxiety. I have had to help her in a variety of situations when a panic attack is brought on by her anxiety and almost debilitates her completely. While sometimes she can trace back and knows what brought on panic attack often she has no idea what happened besides that the stress was just too much to handle. The depression symptoms seem to follow as a side effect of the anxiety, since it has such a hold on her, it has held her back in certain aspects and she feels horrible and devalued because