There is a plethora of psychological dysfunctions and each have their own forms of treatment, including psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy and assertive community treatment. Anxiety disorders are a collection of mental disorders that include symptoms of fear, anxiety and panic. One type of anxiety disorder is panic disorder. Panic disorder is surprisingly extremely prominent throughout the United States of America. Panic disorder was once mistaken as just nerves but it is now considered to be an actual psychological disorder. Due to this change, it is seen that panic disorder is more serious and severe than many people believed. Therefore, it is important to know of the treatments for panic disorder, which are cognitive behavioral therapy, also known as CBT, exposure therapy, and antidepressant medication. It is interesting to study panic disorder since it is so prominent throughout the US. This essay will examine panic disorder, characteristics of panic disorder, the side effects of panic disorder, and the pros and cons of treatments of panic disorder. Therefore this essay intends to deal with the following research question: To what extent is cognitive behavioral treatment, exposure therapy and antidepressant medication effective in the treatment of panic disorder? Out of the three treatments, CBT is seen to be the most effective. Although both exposure therapy and antidepressant medication can be effective in the treatment of panic disorder, there is a multitude of side
Cognitive-Behavioral therapy (CBT) is an empirically supported treatment for a variety of disorder diagnoses. Although pharmacological treatments are the most widely used method of treatment in anxiety disorders in America, research has found that even though patients respond sufficiently to medication treatment initially some are unable
“Anxiety is the signal of danger which mobilizes the human organism’s resources at all levels of functioning in the interests of conservation, defense, and self- preservation.” (Anxiety 1) If a person suffers from anxiety there is a major loss of control and then an attempt to regain that control because of a fear that they have. Anxiety disorders are one of the most frequently occurring mental disorders in the United States. However, anxiety disorders are not only found in the United States. They are found throughout the world. They just happen to be most predominating in the United States. In this paper, I will be discussing the generalized anxiety disorder and how if effects society today.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder first became an individual disorder in 1980. Woodman stated in her article, “The American Psychiatric Association separated anxiety neurosis into (1) panic disorder, characterized by spontaneous episodes of intense anxiety, and (2) Generalized Anxiety Disorder, a residual category for patients who have chronic, sustained anxiety without panic attacks” (Woodman, 1997). The separation of the two disorders was made at the time because of the responses people had with different medications. According to Woodman, Generalized Anxiety Disorder was finally given an independent status and a set of defined criteria of symptoms in DSM-11-R, with the main symptom of Generalized Anxiety Disorder being excessive worry. It is now known that it is differentiated by more than just different reactions to medicines, but with more systematical studies done, the symptom checklist has been edited to best discriminate between normal and pathological anxiety (Woodman, 1997).
The article Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Imipramine, or Their Combination for Panic Disorder, evaluates the effect that drug and psychosocial therapies have on panic disorders. Furthermore, the authors also evaluate whether a particular treatment is more effective than another, a combination of treatments, or whether one treatment outdoes another. Patients who are afflicted with panic disorders have a reduction in lifestyle and lowered role functioning when compared to individuals who suffer from diabetes, heart disease, or arthritis. Researchers found that treating individuals with a panic disorder, led to a better lifestyle. However, medicine also found that treating patients with imipramine led fewer symptom manifestations. The authors of the article conducted trials in which they compared cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), imipramine with medical management, combination of CBT and imipramine, pill placebo with medical management, and CBT with placebo for for panic disorder. Researchers found that CBT alone and imipramine alone yielded greater results than the placebo for PD. Imipramine yielded a greater quality of response, however, CBT had greater
Anxiety disorders—such as post-traumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and phobias—are amongst the most prevalent psychological disorders in the United States. Because of this, there is a definite need for a variety of effective treatments for such disorders. Behavioral therapy has made many innovative contributions to treat anxiety disorders in the past several decades. Generally, the two main classes of behavioral therapies that treat anxiety disorders are brief/graduated, and prolonged/intense exposure therapy. These types of behavior therapies are separated based on distinct characteristics. With that being said, it is possible to use a therapy that takes from both brief/graduated, and prolonged/intense exposure
Many studies proved the efficacy and tolerability of the atypical antipsychotics on patients that diagnosed with panic, one method was constructed by searching for relevant published articles that investigate the antipsychotic effect on panic patients.
In particular, using CBT as the treatment method, the therapist will educate the individual to understand their misinterpretations of their own body’s sensations. After educating the individual on the cause and misinterpretation of the panic attacks, the next step is to teach the individual how to accurately apply correct interpretations from their bodily sensations. Lastly, the individual will be taught coping skills by either referencing relaxation and breathing, or through inducing physical feelings of panic to help recognize there is no
This week’s reflection paper examines the implementation of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) techniques with a client whom experienced one severe episode of a panic attack.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder is an excess and uncontrollable type of anxiety that causes worry with future events or activities. It is a very common and persistent disorder, more in women than in men. Some of the symptoms of this disorder are, restlessness, disturbance in sleeping, tight or tension feelings, increase of heart rate, sweating and many more (Mohlman, 2006). Adults over the age of 60 have the most common rate of having GAD, according to Mohlman “estimated prevalence rates among older adults range from 0.7 to 7.3%” (p. 1439). GAD also has an extensive effect of a twelve-month prevalence of 3.1% and a lifetime of 5.1% (Erickson, 2005).
Based on the information provided, Mary meets diagnostic criteria for Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5) (APA, 2013). Mary experiences excessive anxiety and worry, occurring more days than not for at least six months, about a number of events (work, friends, health). Mary reported that it is difficult to control the worry. The anxiety and worry are associated with the following symptoms, which are present for more days than not: difficulty concentrating or mind going blank, irritability, and sleep disturbance. The anxiety, worry, or physical symptoms cause significant distress or impairment in Mary’s social and
According to the American Psychiatric Association et al. (2013), panic disorder has been shown to occur in about two to three percent of adults in the United States. Panic disorders have been shown to occur more in Caucasian individuals than in any other race or ethnicity. Females have been shown to be twice as affected by panic disorders than their male counterparts and the differences between the genders can be seen by the age of fourteen. Although the normal onset for panic disorder in the U.S. is usually twenty to twenty-four years old. There have been some cases in which the disorder appeared in childhood or after the age of forty-five although both are unusual occurrences (American Psychiatric Association et al. 2013).
A mental illness is the same as a physical illness or disease; it follows a certain pattern, consists of a multitude of symptoms and has the potential to be treated. The only difference is that a mental illness affects the brain and the mind, and in today’s society, has negative connotations associated with it. Mental illness is just as biological as any physical disease, and can be just as serious and devastating to the individual. One mental illness, in particular, is believed to be very common and easily reversible: panic disorder. This illness is classified under the DSM-5 as an anxiety disorder, and it is separate from panic attacks, which by themselves are not a disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Panic attacks, are a symptom of panic disorder, and can be experienced by anyone, both those with and without the disorder. Panic disorder is a mental disease characterized by specific criteria, risk factors and etiologies particular to itself.
. However, the effectiveness of the treatment intervention must also be considered in the context of preexisting pharmacological therapies. Despite discontinuing use of anxiolytic medication about 6 months into psychological treatment, Mark continued to evidence treatment gains at 9 months, as well as cessation of panic attacks by the end of treatment and at 2-year follow-up. This outcome advocates that the behavioral therapy component played a key role in reducing and preventing Mark’s panic attacks. Findings propose Mark’s asthma was significantly exacerbated by his anxiety and perhaps some of his reported asthma attacks were in fact panic attacks. Regardless, Mark’s physical health, as well as his psychosocial well-being, improved substantially with the use of evidence-based cognitive behavior therapy targeting stress and anxiety. Overall, these results support the implication that physical and mental health interact and that targeting psychological concerns can in turn have an important impact on physical health (Tien, Goodie, Duncan, Szabo, & Larson, 2014).
The therapist used the Cognitive Model of Panic (Clark, 1986), initially developing the three key elements of
Anxiety is a reaction to things that stress you. It is normal to have some anxiety at work, school, or home. It is when anxiety becomes a daily occurrence with no known cause that it is categorized as a disorder. Anxiety, panic, and depression often begin with normal stress that gets out of control.