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Anxiety Disorders

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Texas A&M University Kingsville | Anxiety Disorders: Recognizing the symptoms of six of the most common Anxiety Disorders | | | TAMUK | 10/13/2014 |

Summarization and reaction for recognizing the symptoms of anxiety disorders. |

Cancro, R. (2007). Anxiety Disorders: Recognizing the symptoms of six of the most common Anxiety Disorders. EP Magazaine, January 2007, 27-30.

Summary:
There are about 20 million American adults that suffer from anxiety that is chronic, painful, and which becomes worse. The stresses of the world we live in, such as environmental issues, economic situations, personal home issues, competiveness, and our culture can contribute to a person suffering from anxiety. An anxiety disorder interferes with a person’s natural and beneficial adaptive responses, and this interference can happen in varying degrees from mild to incapacitating. There are six common types of anxiety disorders that were described in this article which include: 1. Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): Affects about 4 million American adults. GAD is generally more common in women than in men. GAD continues throughout the day and can lead into the night which leads to sleeping difficulty. 2. Panic Disorder: is an intense fear with a sudden onset that can last about 10 minutes. People begin to feel rapid heart rate, sweating, and the feeling that they are having a heart attack. 3. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD): OCD affects about three million American adults and more common in men than in women. Patients with OCD often have uncontrollable thoughts and images that are highly disturbing. These are often hard for them to forget and become obsessive. Some people believe that if they perform rituals they can relieve some of the anxiety. For example, hand washing to avoid germs. 4. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): occurs when an individual who has been exposed to a traumatic event in which the person experienced or witnessed events that threatened death or serious injury. 5. Specific Phobias: are intense fears associated with an object or situation that poses little or no danger. Some examples of phobias, may include, animals, objects, places, or heights. Phobias tend to appear in childhood or adolescence and tend to persist in adulthood. They may include not being able to climb a mountain or fear of going above the 10th floor in an office building. 6. Social Phobias: Individuals with social phobias have a fear of being judged by others. With social phobias, they may be withdrawn for fear of being embarrassed. They may not be able to make or hold on to friends with this disorder. This disorder affects 3 million adult men and women.
Reaction:
We live in a society with millions of people and it is amazing to realize how many people suffer with a form of anxiety disorder. Millions of people live with one of the disorders described above. It was interesting to see how many types of anxieties there were. It was also interesting to see how some of these anxieties were treated. They can be treated with medication or with psychotherapy. I was interested in the form of psychotherapy called cognitive behavioral therapy. It was interesting that by gradually exposing the individual to something that they fear can be beneficial in relieving some of the anxiety that they feel. With repeated exposure, it may reduce the anxiety which will then let them function normally. I understand that sometimes it will not work and that medication is prescribed, but it is an alternative not to have the patient become dependent on the medication.

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