The Gap Of Quality Of Life Essay

“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.

Our VA is a great place to work overall.  I feel most people work there because they love working with and caring for Veterans.  It is our duty to promote well-being and happiness so we can recruit and retain the brightest and most talented people.  The VA has a good retirement program and benefits package and it is what initially entices non-physician applicants at first.  The application process is a bit complicated and our HR does not do well in the communication part of the process.  Once employees are hired on, which can take several months, they are usually pretty happy.  Physicians and nurses are boarded, there is a very detailed algorithm used to determine their grade and step, which ultimately calculates their fair

Persistent concern about having additional attacksb. Worry about the implications of the attack or its consequences(e.g., losing control, having a heart attack, “going crazy”)c. A significant change in behavior related to the attacksB. The presence (or absence) of Agoraphobia.C. The Panic Attacks are not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition (e.g., hyperthyroidism).D. The Panic Attacks are not better accounted for by another mental disorder, such as Social Phobia (e.g., occurring on exposure to feared social situations), Specific Phobia (e.g., on exposure to a specific phobic situation), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (e.g., on exposure to dirt in someone with an obsession about contamination), Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (e.g., in response to stimuli associated with a severe stressor), or Separation Anxiety Disorder (e.g., in response to being away from home or close relatives).(APA, 2000)

While some may believe that Canada’s quality of life is at a rise, those people are far from the truth. People are under the impression that, “Canada’s quality of life is the best it’s ever been.” Well it is not. Canada’s quality of life is in fact declining. Some of these factors include education, health, and the environment for reasons like plain laziness and ignorance. As Lester Fuller and Edwin Rolfe once said, “Never tell a book by it’s cover.” That is exactly what people assume about Canada from all these textbooks that show Canada and its quality of life in a good light. And we will explain why that is wrong.

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).

Although the issues post-WW1 were very damaging, Canadians began to see hope for improved and exceptional quality of life between the years of 1946-1967. They felt stronger as they progressed rapidly in education, transportation and culture. Respectively, all these themes had played a crucial role in a better quality of life, for all Canadians as a population.

With anxiety disorders being one of the most commonly diagnosed disorders in the United States continued research is critical. The pervasiveness of these disorders including panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder and specific disorders comes at a high cost both socially and economically (Beidel et

Quality of Life Index is an estimation of overall quality of life by using a formula. China currently has the highest rate of pollution and the amount is growing every year. This emphasis on growing the economy quickly and in the least cost method is jeopardizing the health of the nation’s citizens. They must focus on consumer health above corporate profits.

One of the most common mental illnesses in the United States is anxiety disorders. It affects 18% of the population (ADAA). "Anxiety is an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts, and physical changes like increased blood pressure"(Encyclopedia of Psychology). There are numerous kinds of anxiety, ranging from generalized anxiety disorder to obsessive-compulsive disorder. The utmost common forms of anxiety consist of generalized, social, and panic,(ADAA). As for myself, I suffer from all three major forms.

Panic disorder and agoraphobia are two separate disorders that often go hand in hand with each other. An individual can be diagnosed with panic disorder, but a diagnosis without agoraphobia can often take place as well. Some individuals develop symptoms of agoraphobia, but do not have the classic panic disorder symptoms, hence the reason they are both listed as separate disorders in the DSM-5. Panic disorder can be identified as “recurrent unexpected panic attacks. A panic attack is an abrupt surge of intense fear or intense discomfort that reaches a peak within minutes, and during which time four or more physical and cognitive characteristics take place (Hooley, J. 2017, pg.188).” When dealing with panic disorder it can often become debilitating, due to the fact that the individual does not know when the onset of an attack will occur. Individuals with panic disorder more commonly develop agoraphobia as a comorbid disorder, and if left untreated, can have a difficult time even leaving their home. Agoraphobia can be defined as “the individual fears or avoids

National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) defines Panic disorder as characterized by recurring, unforeseen panic attacks followed by at least 1 month of persistent worry about having another attack and concern about its consequences, or a significant change in behavior related to panic attacks.

Panic disorder is when people with this condition have feelings of terror that strike suddenly and repeatedly with no warning. Other symptoms of a panic attack include sweating, chest pain, palpitations, unusually strong or irregular heartbeats, and a feeling of choking, which may make the person feel like he or she is having a heart

     Anxiety disorders are serious medical illnesses that affect approximately 19 million American adults. These disorders fill people's lives

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, “18.1% of the United States adult population” has an anxiety disorder (Any Anxiety Disorder Among Adults). This percentage would equate to about 40 million adults in the United States, making anxiety the most common mental illness in our country (Facts and Statistics, 2016). Furthermore, “… only about 17% of United States adults are considered to be in a state of optimal mental health.” Approximately, 26% of adults are living with a mental health disorder in any year (Mental Health, 2014). Even with these high statistics, not all who have this condition seek treatment. In a twelve-month treatment period, only 33 to 35% of people are obtaining minimally adequate treatment for help with the disorder (Any Anxiety Disorder Among Adults). It is important that those who are experiencing this disorder are able to find the necessary treatment to alleviate anxiety issues. Similarly, Virginia shows high mental health disorder

The World Health Organization defines quality of life as a person’s perceptions of their position in life in the setting of the culture and value systems in which they live in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns (Krageloh et al., 2011). The WHOQOL-100 was developed by the World Health Organization composed of many different doctors and other healthcare providers in order to develop an assessment that could be used internationally and cross-culturally to measure a person’s overall quality of life and well-being, instead of a specific disease. This assessment led to the development of the WHOQOL-BREF, which is an abbreviated version of the WHOQOL-100 because the WHOQOL-100 is too lengthy for practical use; WHOQOL-BREF includes instructions for administering and scoring the assessment. The purpose of this assessment is to provide quality assessments in healthcare, focus attention on all aspects of health, and produce interventions that increase focus on a patient’s well-being (Harper, 1996). There were three main stages to the development of the WHOQOL assessment. The first stage of development consisted of the establishment of a definition of quality of life and how the assessment would be used internationally. The second stage of development explored the quality of life cross-culturally among different fields to establish relevance to the quality of life assessment. The third stage of