Anxiety Disorder - JustAnswer



Anxiety DisorderStudent's NameTitle of the Course Anxiety DisorderANXIETY DISORDERThesis: Anxiety Disorder is the most significant area of mental illness which affects the loss of productivity, interference with normal activities, and relationships, along with being the most misunderstand and vilified by those who do not understand this illness. IntroductionWe live in an age of stress, competition, “the fast lane”, “over-achievement” and anxiety. We have the highest standard of living that has ever been attained in the industrialized world, with more money, more belongings, and, just “more.” We have medical care, for the most part, food to eat, transportation, just about anything we need, and “then some.” Of course, there are problems, and things are not perfect. Most of us worry about the environment, our children, our aging parents, the price of gasoline, and many things. But, all in all, things are good. So, it is possibly hard to fathom that approximately 20 million Americans live with some type of anxiety disorder that is not only chronic, but which causes them significant debilitating problems and usually becomes progressively worse. Our bodies are ready for starvation—our metabolism shuts down. Our bodies our ready for scary circumstances—adrenal kicks in. We have a built-in self protection mechanism and we quite naturally protect our young. But, apparently evolution has just not given us the tools to deal with the stress that accompanies today’s life. The early settlers in our country, not to mention the people that lived in centuries past, certainly have faced stress which is equal to what the population faces today. They had a hard life, it is true. There were catastrophes and bad times, and it was difficult to make a living many times. Even the rich did not live long. Surely the people who lived in the past has stressors in the lives. However, the stresses we face today are the results of a much more complex environment and culture, with daily situations which are new, unavoidable, and possibly unworkable. Stresses such as overcrowding, competitiveness and the loss of family and neighborhood supports may well contribute to the people who suffer from anxiety. What is Anxiety Disorder?The question really should be, “What are Anxiety Disorders?”, because it is not just one illness, but there are several types of anxiety disorders and most people who suffer from one, possess a combination of several disorders. It is estimated that almost 30 million people have some type of anxiety disorder, according to an article by Rebecca Frey, in the “Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine.” Naturally, as with any mental illness, just one bad day, or one or two stressful incidents does not mean a person suffers from anxiety disorders. According to the DSM-IV, to diagnose an anxiety disorder, the anxiety must be severe enough to interfere with a person's relationships and everyday life, such as work or school or business life. CITATION Gal11 \l 1033 (Gale, 2011)There are five main types of anxiety disorders identified:Panic disorder, is an intense fear with a sudden onset usually lasting 10 minutes or less. It is frequently associated with a rapid heartbeat, sweating and may even feel like a heart attack. These people frequently go to the emergency room because they believe they are having a heart attack but are not. It affects over two million people in the United States and again is twice as common in women as in men. It is usually associated with anticipatory anxiety between the attacks. For example, if the person had an attack on an elevator, that person may well avoid elevators. It is not uncommon for people to become housebound because they fear going out on the street. The attacks are less common when the person is at home. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), patients have uncontrollable thoughts and images that are highly disturbing. These thoughts and mental images are persistent and are very difficult to ignore, hence they are described as obsessive because the person cannot simply push them out of his or her mind. Some individuals find that if they perform motor rituals they can relieve the anxiety associated with the obsessions. These anxiety-reducing activities are referred to as compulsions and may involve activities such as hand-washing to avoid germs. It frequently involves checking to make sure the doors are locked or that the gas is turned off. OCD affects over three million adult Americans and is about as common in women as in men. This disorder starts early in life, including childhood and adolescence, and tends to be progressive. When it is severe, it can be incapacitating. CITATION Anx \l 1033 (Anxiety Disorder Education Program)Post-traumatic stress disorder, (PTSD) occurs in an individual who has been exposed to a traumatic event in which the person experienced or witnessed events that threatened death or serious injury. Furthermore, the person’s response involved fear and helplessness. Both the experience and the response to the experience are necessary for the development of PTSD. There is a marked tendency for the event to be re-experienced mentally in an intrusive fashion which is difficult to control. This re-living of the experience is described as a flashback. The flashback is associated with intense psychological distress. Individuals frequently avoid situations which they associate with the event. Symptoms of increased arousal such as insomnia, irritability, poor judgment, and exaggeration startle response are common. CITATION Anx \l 1033 (Anxiety Disorder Education Program)Phobias, including Social Phobias, are intense fears associated with an object or situation that poses little or no real danger, Phobias may include animals such as dogs, or mice, or can involve objects, places, heights escalators, etc. In addition to being intense, phobias represent irrational fears of particular things. For example, an individual may be perfectly comfortable climbing a mountain but unable to go above the 10th floor of a building. It is often simply easier for the person to avoid the object or situation rather than to deal with it. These are more common in women than men by a ratio of 2 to 1 and affect approximately six million adults in the United States. They usually appear in childhood or adolescence and tend to persist into adulthood. There is also social phobia which involves an intense anxiety and self-consciousness in every-day social situations. Individuals with social phobia possess a strong fear of being judged by others and embarrassed by their own actions. CITATION Anx03 \l 1033 (Anxiety Disorders, 2003)Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) affects approximately four million adult Americans at any given time and is twice as common in women as in men. It usually is associated with other symptoms such as depression, alcoholism or another anxiety disorder. The day is spent worrying excessively above a variety of issues such as health, family, money, etc. While these are everyday worries for all of us, the person with GAD cannot just “snap out of it.” It is persistent and continues throughout the day and into the night resulting in sleep difficulties. Patients with GAD startle easily. Symptoms such as fatigue, nausea, and tension are very common. Concentration is frequently impaired. When severe, the individual can be functionally incapacitated. CITATION Anx \l 1033 (Anxiety Disorder Education Program)The symptoms of all these different anxiety disorders, notes the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), are often chronic, and usually become worse if left untreated. The people who suffer from panic attacks, irrational fears, debilitating anxiety, compulsive behaviors, even flashbacks and nightmares, also may have paralyzing physical symptoms. People with the physical symptoms often go to the emergency rooms because the symptoms are so real, and so severe. CITATION AHC99 \l 1033 (LLC, 1999) Along with these, the various symptoms, both mental and physical, disrupt their families, their work, their social lives, and many become housebound, afraid to walk out even into their own yard. It is not uncommon to also see signs of co-occurring disorders such alcohol abuse, drug use, or additional mental disorders which are found to be accompanying the anxiety disorders. CITATION Int051 \l 1033 (International Medical News Group, 2005)We must separate anxiety as a medical illness from that which is experienced as an appropriate response to a life situation. If, while you are on ski lift, and the cable breaks, fear is a highly appropriate and necessary response. Intense, disabling fear in the absence of the broke cable is not appropriate, nor helpful. The anxiety disorder interferes with a person's natural and beneficial adaptive responses, and this interference can happen in anywhere from mild to incapacitating. CITATION Lyn99 \l 1033 (Cave, 1999)Treatment of these disorders can be medication, psychotherapy or a combination of both. These approaches can be effective in most of the anxiety disorders, except for specific phobias that respond to specific therapies. It is important that the therapist is able to do a careful diagnostic evaluation to see what specific forms of anxiety disorder or disorders are involved. Because medication can play a role in many of these illnesses, it is useful to seek out a psychiatrist as the professional involved in the treatment. CITATION Gal11 \l 1033 (Gale, 2011)The NIMH has found that of the main anxiety conditions, the panic disorders and OCD’s can be particularly debilitating because they actually stop many people from functioning. And yet, anxiety disorders are very difficult to “spot” by an outsider, and almost as equally difficult to understand by the sufferer. A person with an anxiety disorder, for instance, which prevents them from leaving the house, can be thought to just be lazy—unwilling to go look for work. CITATION Int051 \l 1033 (International Medical News Group, 2005)As another example someone who is terrified at the sight of a dog, because of a previous dog bite, is teased and even sometimes pushed over by a dog by people who think it is merely an affectation. Possibly the worst for anyone to be exposed to is OCD because it is non-understandable. Picture someone who cannot step on a crack on the sidewalk because they fear something terrible will happen; or a family member who must wash her hands a hundred times a day. Panic disorder will sometimes cause a person to not be able to open a door, or lick a stamp, or walk into a room. They do not always know why. They friends and family does not know why. In extreme cases, people might not be a able to read a book because they are afraid of a certain number, like 3, and 3 is on so many pages of the book, it is impossible to look at. “That’s nuts!” is the usually reaction to things like this. But, “normal” people who have seen a bad car accident and get nervous when they get into a car—can rationalize that, and that seems pretty normal. CITATION Anx \l 1033 (Anxiety Disorder Education Program)A PERSONAL VIEW OF ANXIETY DISORDERSShe never liked to go to the grocery store. When she was a teenager, she always talked her brother into going whenever her mom needed something from the store. She could walk the malls from opening till closing. But, not the grocery market. When she got married, she sent her new husband to the store. He was still in the “honeymoon” stage, so he was glad to go. She just figured she didn’t like grocery stores. Too many people. No fun. Stuff costs too much. Whatever. She started noticing how difficult this became when her husband was working long hours and no matter what she did, she could not shop for food. He thought she was just being “silly”. But, luckily, she went to a psychologist to get help. She got some therapy and some medication and began to realize that this anxiety disorder was also disrupting other parts of her life. She could not answer the phone unless it was her friends or her parents. She began to remember that in elementary school she would freeze up when she had to ask to go to the restroom. She was so frightened that she wet her pants a few times. It all began to make sense that this was something she had been carrying around for quite a few years. But she has a mild form and got help before it got worse. In 1999, the Clinton Administration held the first White House Conference on Mental Health. The report from that conference said that research on the brain has shown that mental illnesses can be diagnosed, and that these diseases are treatable, notes Steven E. Hyman, MD, director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Bethesda, MD. We have learned that these diseases should be treated just like general medical disorders. If you had heart disease, you would get not only medication, but also rehabilitation, dietary counseling, and stress reduction; so it is with a mental illness. CITATION Lyn99 \l 1033 (Cave, 1999)Conclusion The message here is that these are not small problems, and in fact that anxiety disorders can be totally debilitating but they can be treated adequately and frequently successfully. At the very least, most people can benefit while some can be essentially relieved of much of their pathology. There is no reason to suffer quietly when treatments are readily available in most communities. This is a particularly important message to those do recognize this as an illness and treat sufferers with contempt. Stress can be cumulative, and when it exceeds the ability of the individual to compensate, it can be destructive. While it is hoped that with time the stigmatization and isolation often associated with many disabilities will be diminished and/or eliminated and, as a byproduct, will lead to a reduction in anxiety disorders brought on by this stigmatization, that time is not yet upon us. Until then, knowing the signs of an anxiety disorder can be the first step in seeking treatment and getting on the road to managed and improved mental health. References BIBLIOGRAPHY \l 1033 Anxiety Disorder Education Program. National Institute of Mental Health. Bethesda, MD.Anxiety Disorders. (2003). International Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family .Cave, L. (1999). Presidents Report. National Instituteof Mental Health.International Medical News Group. (2005). International Medical News Group .LLC, A. M. (1999). Anxiety disorders pose productivity threat. Employee Health & Fitness . ................
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