In the general population, less than five percent of people experience panic disorders, and only six percent develop agoraphobia during their lives, (MacNeil 2001). A diagnosis of panic disorder is given when panic attacks turn into a common occurrence, for no apparent reason and the person begins to change their behaviour because of the constant fear of having a panic attack. Someone suffering from agoraphobia has a fear of being somewhere where help will not be provided in case of an emergency; one third to one half of people diagnosed with panic disorders develops agoraphobia, (Hoeksema & Rector, 2011, p. 204). Research has examined two well-known ways a panic disorder with agoraphobia (PDA) can be treated: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) (alone and combined with two other medications) and Experimental Cognitive Therapy (ECT). Examining the research allows for a comparison of each treatment, along with a discussion of implications, resulting in determining which treatment is the most effective for someone who suffers from a panic disorder with agoraphobia.
According to MacNeil (2001), panic disorders tend to be chronic in nature, and much of the data involving treatment effectiveness relates to relative improvement rather than absolute improvement. In a study, Treatment of Panic Disorders with Agoraphobia in an Anxiety Disorders Clinic, done by Vladan Starcevic et al., (2004), they conducted research based on three treatments focusing on CBT: CBT alone, CBT with a high-potency benzodiazepine (CBT+BZ) and CBT combined with fluoxetine (an antidepressant) and BZ (CBT+BZ+AD). There were one hundred and two patients selected with PDA, seventy-four women and twenty-eight men. All patients had to go through an assessment, educa...
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.... (2011). Anxiety Disorders. Abnormal Psychology (Second ed., pp. 198-259). Toronto, Ontario: McGraw-Hll Ryerson.
MacNeil, G. (2001). Time-limited psychosocial treatment for specific panic disorders and agoraphobia. Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention, 1(1), 29-41. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/brief-treatment/1.1.29
Starcevic, V., Linden, M., Uhlenhuth, E. H., Kolar, D., & Latas, M. (2004). Treatment of panic disorder with agoraphobia: Factors influencing psychiatrists' treatment choices. Psychiatry Research, 125(1), 41-52. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2003.11.001
Vincelli, F., Anolli, L., Bouchard, S., Wiederhold, B. K., Zurloni, V., & Riva, G. (2003). Experiential cognitive therapy in the treatment of panic disorders with agoraphobia: A controlled study. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 6(3), 321-328. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/109493103322011632
Generalized Anxiety Disorder, also known as (GAD) is one of the several types of anxiety disorders. GAD according to our textbook (Lahey) is an uneasy sense of general tension and apprehension for no apparent reason that makes the individual highly uncomfortable because of its prolonged presence. GAD is much more than the normal anxiety people experience day to day. Without provoking, it is chronic and exaggerated worry and tension. This disorder can involve anticipating disaster, often worrying excessively about health, money, family or work. Sometimes, though, just the thought of getting through the day brings anxiety.
Agoraphobia is a psychological disorder characterised by panic and anxiety. This particular anxiety disorder involves the fear of experiencing a panic attack in a public place where safety may be unavailable, which causes discomfort (Lilienfeld, 2017). This disorder is commonly recognized in women and often arises during adolescent years. Often times, people develop agoraphobia after a previous panic attacks, which than causes them to worry about having another in the future (Agoraphobia, 2017). This results in avoidant behaviours, such as evading places where an attack may occur. There are many causes, symptoms, effects on both the individual with the disorder and their loved ones, as well as a variety of treatments available.
Anxiety is a concept that most people experience daily, but severe anxiety is associated with panic attacks and other disorders can debilitate a person’s life. In the 1997 documentary, Secret Fear directed by Sarah Barton, real-life people express their stories and experiences with anxiety. The film uses the stories of people who have recovered and / or continue to cope with their disorder. Furthermore, different types of therapy, medications, and coping methods are described for the viewer to understand the ways in which people are able to overcome anxiety. Since anxiety is not limited solely to panic attacks, the film uses people who have experienced Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), hoarding, depression, or social phobias. The film
As with all other phobias, agoraphobia is often acquired through classical conditioning. Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus (Weiten, 1998). Describing and explaining exactly how agoraphobia is acquired can be achieved by identifying the antecedents of the phobia. Antecedents are the events that precede a particular response. In the case of agoraphobia, this response is a panic attack. Agoraphobia is essentially anxiety of three kinds, phobic anxiety, panic anxiety (the panic attacks), and phobic a...
Ougrin, D. (2011). Efficacy of exposure versus cognitive therapy in anxiety disorders: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Psychiatry, 11(200). Retrieved from http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-244X/11/200
Bearing in mind that an anxiety response is a result of various factors, there are different types of anxiety disorders. The most common type of anxiety disorders as described as specific phobias, social anxiety disorder (SAD), panic disorder (PD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). According to Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) (2016), specific phobias affect about 19 million adults in the U.S, while SAD affects 15 million, PD affects 6 million, GAD affects about 6.8 million, OCD affects about 2.2 million and PTSD affects 7.7 million adults respectively. Considering that anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S, yet only about one-third of those suffering receive treatment (ADAA, 2016).
Social anxiety is a prevalent and common disorder amongst society. Social anxiety disorder is expressed as a fear in public and social situations for an individual (Kashdan, Farmer, Adams, Mcknight, Ferssizidis, Nezelf 2013). A person with social anxiety fears that a social appearance, outcome, or situation will lead a to negative response to their surrounding audience (Kashdan, Farmer, Adams, Mcknight, Ferssizidis, Nezelf 2013). However there are numerous treatments for social anxiety. Cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the most efficacious treatments that a patient may receive (Hambrick, Weeks, Harb, & Heimberg, 2003. Cognitive behavioral therapy has numerous techniques that can be used on patients. The result of using cognitive behavioral therapy on patients shows that it has long-term and short-term effectiveness (Hambrick, Weeks, Harb, & Heimberg, 2003. In conclusion a patient with social anxiety disorder should have the opportunity to try cognitive behavioral therapy.
Panic disorder is an anxiety-repeated disorder that affects approximately five percent of the population (Roy-Byrne, Craske, & Stein, 2006). A diagnosis of panic disorder requires that the individual experiences recurrent panic attacks with any of the following: worry about the possibility of future attacks, avoiding places or situations in which the individual fears a panic attack may occur, fear of being unable to escape or obtain help, or any other change in behavior due to the attacks (Roy-Byrne, Craske, & Stein, 2006). Panic attacks are often sudden and the sufferer usually experience physical symptoms such as autonomie, otoneurological, gastrointestinal,or cardiorespiratory distress (Roy-Byrne, Craske, & Stein, 2006). Individuals who suffer from panic disorder typically utilize medical services at a higher rate than those who do not have panic disorder, an impaired social life, and a reduced quality of life (Taylor, 2006). Often times those who suffer from panic disorder may also suffer from depression and general anxiety (Taylor, 2006). According to the Stanford University School of medicine, approximately 50 percent of patients diagnosed with panic disorder will develop depression and approximately 50 percent of depressed patients will develop panic disorder (Taylor, 2006). In addition those who suffer from panic disorder have a higher incidence of suicide, especially those with comorbid depression (Taylor, 2006). Not everyone who experiences a panic attack suffers from panic disorder (Roy-Byrne, Craske, & Stein, 2006). The same physical symptoms of panic disorder may occur when an individual is faced with specific fears and potentially dangerous situations (Roy-Byrne, Craske, & Stein, 2006). The difference b...
(198)First, we need to understand what fear and anxiety is. Fear is when the nervous system responds to a threat to ones well being. Anxiety is when there is a vague sense of danger. Both of these term help the body determine when action needs to be taken like “Fight” or “Flight”. When they both come clinically significant is when people can’t not live there normal lives without one or there other or both interfering. “Their discomfort is so server or to frequent, last too long, or is trigger to easily, (Comer, 2013, pp.114)”. Then they are termed with having an anxiety disorder or some other disorder. Most psychologist use the DSM-5 check list when diagnosing a patient with anxiety disorder. They look for these signs that the DSM-5 list:
Severe anxiety, which can be described as an episode of terror, is referred to as a panic attack. Panic attacks can be extremely frightening. People who experience panic attacks over a prolonged time period may become victims of agoraphobia, which is a psychiatric disorder that is closely associated with the panic disorder. Patients with Agoraphobia avoid certain places or situations such as airplanes, crowded theaters, a grocery store or anyplace from which escape might be difficult. It is said that Agoraphobia can be so severe that it has made certain individuals housebound.
Sandberg, L., Busch, F., Milrod, B., Caligor, E., Schneier, F., & Gerber, A. (2012). Panic-focused psychodynamic psychotherapy in a woman with panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 20, 5, 268-276. Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=21&sid=90152116-522c-4817-bf1f-1cec13d11c80%40sessionmgr4003&hid=4213
The reliability and validity were researched by using three types of studies: mixed diagnostic group, certified patients diagnosed with DSM-III-R anxiety disorders and a non-clinical sample. It should be noted that the that was used population were psychiatric patients s...
Valeria Oceguera Psychology 181 Professor Berry April 28th, 2017 Psychological Disorders/ Abnormal Psychology Most people have experienced some of the theories of psychology without them noticing, throughout their lives. This can include either a disorder, a theory, or a way of acting when others around or when something is seen as a threat, but one topic I relate to the most that was covered in psychology this semester are panic attacks, agoraphobia and phobias. Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder and it is when someone fears to have a panic attack while in public, at home, and fear not being able to escape the situation and be able to receive help. Agoraphobia can lead to a panic attack, a panic attack is when a person experiences a period of
National Institute of Mental Health. (2010). Treating anxiety disorders. NIH Medline plus, 5(3), 15-18. Retrieved from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/magazine/issues/fall10/articles/fall10pg15.html
Mandos, Laura A., Reinhold, Jennifer A., and Rickels, Karl. “Achieving Remission in Generalized Anxiety Disorder: What are the Treatment Options? Psychiatric Times 26.2 (2009): 38-41. Print.