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Panic Disorders: A Case Study

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Panic disorder is a psychiatric condition in which a patient experiences recurrent, unexpected panic attacks accompanied by concern about future attacks and/or a lifestyle change to avoid future attacks (Barlow 136.) The diagnostic criteria for panic disorder, according to the DSM-5, states that the patient must have: 1. Recurrent unexpected panic attacks 2. at least one of the attacks has been followed by one month or more of one or both of the following: (a.) persistent concern or worry about additional panic attacks or their consequences, or (b.) a significant maladaptive change in behavior related to the attacks, 3. the disturbance is not attributed to the physiological effects of a substance or another medical condition, and 4. the disturbance …show more content…
al investigated the effectiveness of various types of treatment on African American women with panic disorder (Carter.) This study differed from these previous attempts to use cognitive-behavioral as treatment for Panic disorder in four specific ways (Carter.) First, given the sense of community believed to be emphasized by African American culture, treatment was conducted in a group format (Carter.) Second, the groups were ethnically homogeneous (all African Americans) (Carter.) Third, treatment was conducted by an African American therapist (Carter.) Fourth, issues of race and emotional control as they pertained to any aspect of treatment were discussed and managed as they arose during treatment (Carter.) These differences were expected to be associated with a substantial reduction in panic symptomatology and to provide preliminary evidence for the efficacy of basic Panic Control Treatment (PTC) among African Americans (Carter.) The researchers found that PCT was successful in treating African American women diagnosed with panic disorder (Carter.) Specifically, the use of the cultural-consideration technique of conducting discussions in a group setting that regularly focused on the impact of ethnicity on the exacerbation of symptoms seemed to be most effective in treating panic disorder (Carter.) This technique was effective because many African Americans have a strong sense of group identity. Johnson et. al also conducted a study that looked at the lives of …show more content…
Hopkins et. al researched the cultural factors that influence the difference in anxiety disorder between African Americans and European Americans (Hopkins.) A number of sociocultural risk and protective factors have been suggested to contribute to these group differences, such as salience of physical illnesses, discrimination, stigma toward mental illness, religiosity, and ethnic identity (Hopkins.) These researchers found that ethnic group identity and stigma toward mental illness were the most significant factors that contributed to the differences in anxiety between these two groups (Hopkins.) These researchers hypothesized that ethnic group identity may buffer against the negative consequences of anxiety, reducing prevalence rates in African Americans (Hopkins.)They also reasoned that stigma toward mental illness may decrease African Americans willingness to report anxiety symptoms, reducing overall prevalence rates but increasing the severity of treated cases (Hopkins.) Levine et al researched the differences between African Americans, Caribbean blacks, and non-Hispanic whites (Levine.) They found that African Americans and Caribbean blacks report lower rates of panic disorder than non-Hispanic whites (Levine.) A potential explanation for the low rates of panic disorder among African Americans may lie in their childhood

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