Assessments Used in The Diagnostic Process
Jeffrey, is a 12-year-old boy who suffers from high anxiety in social situations. His parents have brought Jeffrey in for treatment because he suffers from high levels of anxiety when in social situations (Shapiro, Friedberg, and Bardenstien (2006). While talking with Jeffrey he admitted when he is with classmates he is self-conscious, becomes easily embarrassed and afraid of being put down by his peers. Even though, Jeffrey participates in Little League baseball he experiences intense fear of letting his team down. He went on to add his anxiety was strongest in the mornings prior to boarding the school bus, describing the somatic symptoms he experiences such as increased heart rate, tightness …show more content…
Hunsley, Elliott, and Therrien (2014) report, on a meta-analysis by Acarturk, Cuijpers, van Straten, and de Graaf (2009) they compared the efficacy between CBT and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) with children in the age range between 5 and 19 years old. Both the psychological and pharmacological treatments lasted just over 11 weeks. The CBT treatment was conducted in a group setting and showed to effective in reducing social anxiety symptoms and the impairment related to them. Although, the SSRI treatment was found to be significantly more efficacious in the reduction of social anxiety symptoms than the CBT treatment on all …show more content…
Although, the consensus of several research articles is some form of a cognitive behavioral therapy provides the best outcomes. The reason for this is it teaches the person about the disorder and the skills so the person can take back the control of their lives the disorder taken from them. Compton et al. (2014) reports, “childhood anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health conditions affecting youth, and they are associated with persistent difficulties and long-term impairment into adulthood” (p.213). Although, when the parent provides the proper treatment for their child the persistence of experiencing it into adulthood could be avoided. The techniques used in CBT begin by teaching the child that the fear is an emotion and if he wants to be mad at the emotion he/she can do so. Shapiro et al. (2006) reports, with the parents’ permission the child can swear and get mad at the monster that is scaring them, allowing the child to release their full anger toward what they are fearing. Thus, the child gets some relief and takes the power away from the monster or whatever might be hiding under their bed. Hunsley et al. (2014) reports, over the past few years there have been several meta-analyses that have shown both pharmacological and psychological interventions have shown as effective interventions for social