General Anxiety Disorders and Treatments Thereof

This research paper is designed to review articles and books of professional journals in anxiety disorders, definition of anxiety disorder, review of current and past treatments of anxiety disorders, the new section and changes to anxiety disorder in the DSM-5, new treatments for anxiety disorders and medications for anxiety disorders. This paper will show spiritual considerations for treating anxiety disorders and how

“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 (GAD) is an anxiety disorder that is characterized by excessive, uncontrollable and often irrational worry about everyday things that is disproportionate to the actual source of worry. This excessive worry often interferes with daily functioning, as individuals suffering GAD typically anticipate disaster, and are overly concerned about everyday matters such as health issues, money, death, family problems, friend problems, relationship problems or work difficulties.[1] They often exhibit a variety of physical symptoms, including fatigue, fidgeting, headaches, nausea, numbness in hands and feet, muscle tension, muscle aches, difficulty swallowing, bouts of difficulty breathing, trembling, twitching, irritability,

Adolescence is a difficult time period in a young person’s transition into their later stage of both physical and mental development. Mood disorders are often overlooked during this time for the brain becoming more developed; however among children, anxiety disorders seem to be the most common disorders to be experienced (Nelson; Israel, pg 112). Barlow (2002) defines anxiety as a future-oriented emotion that is characterized by the inability to be in control and predict future events that can be potentially dangerous to the individual. Anxiety shares commonalities with fear, but the difference between the two being that fear is the initial response made from a present threat, where anxiety is due to a unknown future event. A common

Even though there are no specific statistics showing geographically how many people in each country are affected, it is estimated that “5% - 6% of teens ages 13-18 are affected by this troubling disorder, not including the teens that receive no treatment,” (“Generalized”). Youth that receive no treatment could be considered are under privileged. Meaning that they do not have the resources or are very limited to resources that could help them get the proper treatment for their disorder. Many of those adolescents are children that come from low income families, single family homes, or foster care to name a few. Foster care children however, “Find themselves in a system that is ill-equipped to provide the services they need, and that can further impede their progress towards emotional well-being,” States Lisette Austin, author of “UNLOCKING: Mental Health Services for Youth in Care.” “According to the World Health Organization, nearly 20% of children and adolescents worldwide suffer from some type of emotional or behavioral problem. . .” (“Austin”) (“Mental”). “U.S. Surgeon General reports that roughly 1 in 10 American children experience a mental illness severe enough to cause significant impairment,” (“Austin”) (“Mental”). In her article she also states from another source, Steve Hornberger, Director of Behavioral Health for CWLA, “That anywhere ranging from 40% to 85% of kids in foster care have mental health disorders, depending on what reports you read,” (“Austin”)

The purpose of this paper is to examine different ways of using CBT in treating anxiety disorder. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is one of the most used approach in treating anxiety and depression. There are different styles of CBT that are used to treat different subtypes of anxieties. However, the main focus of this paper will be about incorporating different intervention programs to CBT to treat Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD).

A Psychology disorder known as anxiety disorder, is the most common in the United States. In a result of, 18% of 40 million people suffers from anxiety. However, there are six different types of anxiety disorders in the results of stress, depression, social interaction, obsessive compulsive, and phobia. Which characteristic functions as a natural part of life, that can be treated thought several methods.

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).

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

During the Enlightenment, philosophers were starting to drift away from religion, and many new truths were beginning to be discovered. When these new ideas, or truths, started to make more sense then the certainty of religion, a state of anxiety began to grow within the human mind. As this state of anxiety grew, many anxiety disorders began to sprout and show themselves within humans. These disorders, such as certain phobias, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) began to take over many people’s lives. For many years, doctors have tried using harmful drugs to change the chemicals within the brain, to help relieve anxiety. As truth continues to be discovered, and anxiety continues to rise, therapeutic interventions will be proven to be more efficient in treating anxiety than its counterpart, the dangerous drugs that humans become dependent on.

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a disorder of shared self-reported symptoms. It goes with tension, uncontrollable worrying, sometimes muscle pain, trouble sleeping, and irritability that all together impair work ability, relations, and leisure activities. It is a common condition and there are psychological and pharmacological treatment options are available for anxiety disorders but not all patients respond to the same treatment as others. Finding a good treatment can take many months or sometimes longer. Patients just have to go through the adequate treatment trials for the right amount of time. There are six major forms of anxiety disorders, each with their own distinct symptom: panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), social anxiety disorder (SAD), specific phobias, and the most common generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Most anxiety disorders are treated with behavioral therapy, medication, or some combination of the two. Sometimes complementary or alternative treatments may also be helpful.

CBT is one of the two best treatments for social anxiety, the other being serotonin reuptake inhibitors (Schneier, 2003). Wolk, C.B., Kendall, P.C., Beidas, R.S.. (2015) was a longitudinal study on how cognitive therapy for anxiety in children worked in the long term, particularly in relation to suicidal thoughts and urges in late adolescence and early adulthood. Wolk looked at 66 patients treated for anxiety as children and then revisited the participants anywhere from 7-19 years later. People who were grouped as treatment non-responders experienced increased suicidal ideation than those who had responded to CBT (Wolk, 2015). Wolk demonstrated that the problem of anxiety was nearly eliminated in those receiving CBT for at least two decades later. CBT’s success in treating anxiety suggests that the cause of anxiety is cognitive in

The results of the study indicated that cognitive-behavioral therapy has long-term positive effect in the treatment of anxiety disorders in children. Namely, 2-5 years after the intervention, the children maintained their gains over all three types of anxiety disorders. This was confirmed with a self-report and a parent-report measure of anxiety also self-reported anxious self-talk and self-reported depression (Kendall & Southam- Gerow, 1996). All participants in the time of the study did not have anxiety disorder diagnosis.

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.

Treatments include medication, supportive psychotherapy and occasionally ECT. Medications include lithium, anticonvulsant drugs (carbamazepine (Tegretol), valproate (Depakote), gabapentin (Neurontin) and lamotrigine Lamictal), antidepressants (such as bupropion (Wellbutrin)or sertraline (Zoloft)), neuroleptics (e.g. haloperidol) and benzodiazepines (e.g. lorazepam) Treatment choices depend on the