The Basis Of Hypochondriasis : Why Is It An Under Diagnosed Problem?

Following the diagnosis, the client is overwhelmed with specific medical anxiety concerning medication management, lifestyle changes, and side effects from the medications.

1. Client demonstrates excessive and sometimes unrealistic worry that has been occurring more days than not for past seven months. Client has been affected by physical issues due to anxiety; such as, nausea, diarrhea, lack of sleep and trouble falling asleep, excessive crying, discourse at home, and hypervigilance.

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 recent study suggests that full-blown hypochondriasis is fairly rare, although lesser degrees of worry about illness are more common, affecting as many as 6% of people in a community sample. Hypochondria is an irregular anxiety about one's well being, particularly with an unjustified terror that one has a severe sickness. A lot of people worry about medical symptoms, but not everyone has hypochondria. Having an unidentified illness can cause anxiety. In this case, one should get a second opinion. This does not mean that said person is a hypochondriac. However, if you search your symptoms yourself, there is a high possibility that you can find something that matches. Minor illnesses, like the common cold, can match much more serious disorders.

Science with all its marvels and wonders continues to press forward making extraordinary breakthroughs. Psychology plays a key role in many of sciences steps forward, each branch of psychology focusing on a specific techniques and theories. In the document the center of attention is surrounding the application of clinical psychology, this branch of psychology is unique as it all realms of an individual’s issue. Specifically speaking, anxiety is the psychological disorder that is under review through the processes of a clinical

Anxiety disorders is the most common grouping of psychiatric illnesses which can affect both children and adults. There is an estimated 19 million adult persons in the United States suffering from an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders stem from numerous sources, including genetics, brain chemistry, personality, and life events. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) categorizes these disorders as General Anxiety Disorder (GAD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), social anxiety disorder, and phobias. Anxiety disorders are treatable and manageable by psychosocial therapies, medication, or both, though only about one-third of those suffering from

As a hypochondriac anxiety allows the worry, the unease feelings to absorb your every thought. It does not allow you to stop thinking about your health. When you think of a disease ruining your health, it becomes a obsession. Anxiety latches on to things you can't control.

If my supervisor told me that she thinks the patient I chose was misdiagnosed and that the problem is something else entirely, I would defend my diagnosis using this case study. Paula presents herself as a woman who “get(s) dizzy” with “chest pains…short of breath” as well as she “feel(s) like (she’s) dying and the world is ending” (Getzfeld, 2004)1. When she visits the emergency room, the doctors tell her the cause is not physical – therefore they must be psychological. Key symptoms of panic attacks include heart attack-like symptoms, as well as raised heart rate, sweating, and dizziness, all of which Paula experienced. Another key of diagnosing panic disorder (PD) is that a lot of random panic attacks occur and these attacks bring on at least 1 month of fear that more attacks will occur which Paula experienced. PD involves avoiding situations due to the fear of a difficult escape should a panic attack occur and that they will be embarrassed; Paula had said she did not go to work as

Some of the common psychiatric disorders that are experienced by patients include depression, schizophrenia and generalized anxiety disorder. The psychiatric disorders may be caused by both genetic and environmental factors. All these disorders of the mind greatly affect the quality of life of the sufferers. Depression may affect any individual at any stage of life and the symptoms include lack of interest and generalized low moods. The treatment for depression includes psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy and an unpopular method; electroconvulsive therapy when the disease is extensive (Watson, 2005). The complications in the treatment of the disease include headaches and disorientation. Schizophrenia is disease of the mind that makes it arduous for an individual to tell between the real and what is unreal. The symptoms of schizophrenia include obscured thinking depression and hallucinations among others. The treatment of schizophrenia ranges from pharmacotherapy to psychosocial interventions such as skills training, family therapy and cognitive remediation among others. Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), in which the sufferer is constantly worried about several things, is characterized with incapability to let go of trivial matters that concern an individual. The sufferers are unable of thinking clearly as their mind is clouded with varied thoughts of worry. GAD has similar symptoms to panic disorder and other anxiety disorders. The Cognitive BehavioralTherapy (CBT)

Psychiatric- patient is a little anxious about these new symptoms and their significance. We discussed her situation and I offered her psychologic services, she refused for now.

This is mental disorder where an individual overthinks about his/her symptoms. Thoughts are harder to control than physical actions in my opinion and this is a disorder that is brought up because of thoughts and emotions. When discussing conversion disorder, a disorder in which medically unexplained bodily symptoms affect voluntary motor and sensory functions, the emotions that are so hard to get rid of actually induce physical symptoms. Our mind and bodies are connected more than we think and this disorder proves it. I find this disorder difficult to question is legitimacy because the symptoms are real. Even though the doctors cannot find physical causes, they can find physical proof of the disorder.

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.

Several types of anxiety disorders are discussed in this film. General anxiety disorder is described as a constant feeling of worry and fear for at least six months. A person suffering from general anxiety may experience panic attacks, cold sweats, heavy breathing, and may withdraw from social interactions. It is regularly treated with medications and cognitive behavior therapy, which is a psychotherapy that focuses on helping patients understand the feelings they are experiencing and how those feelings may be contributing to their issue. Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is another anxiety disorder discussed in this film. People develop PTSD after experiencing an emotional shock or major trauma. Someone with PTSD may have issues sleeping and controlling their anger; they may experience feelings of detachment, numbness, and may have flashbacks of the traumatic experience causing their PTSD. Like general anxiety disorder, PTSD patients are often treated with medication and cognitive behavior therapy. Recently a new therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy, has been used in PTSD patients. This therapy requires the patient to rapidly move their eyes while recalling the traumatic experience. The third type of anxiety disorder discussed in this film is obsessive compulsive disorder, or OCD. OCD is described

Somatoform disorders are characterized by psychiatric medical condition identified by multiple medically unexplained physical symptoms. In other word, this is an illnesses that that occurs in the body without any apparent physical cause. In order to qualify for the diagnosis, physical complaints must be serious enough to interfere significantly with a person’s ability to perform important activities, such as work, school and responsibilities, or lead the person experiencing the symptoms to seek medical treatment. Under the condition of somatoform disorder, some patients identify themselves as having hypochondriasis.

Headache = Tumor. Cough = Tuberculosis. Mole = Skin Cancer. Such is the thought process of a hypochodriac. As defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV (DSM-IV), hypochondriasis is an unrealistic interpretation of one's bodily sensations as abnormal, leading to the fear and belief that one has a serious disease (1). This preoccupation with having a serious medical condition is one of the somatoform disorders and may be considered more as a symptom than a disease. In fact, hypochondriacal symptoms often appear as a part of other mental disorders, including forms of depression or schizophrenia (2). For this reason, a close investigation of hypochondriacal behavior is necessary to