Anxiety Disorders, Research Paper Example

Introduction

The concept of General Anxiety Order (GAD) is essentially that of a mood disorder. It tends to be more prevalent amongst the young. The worries and depression of this can result in a person losing the ability to get proper sleep. In addition it can interfere with the normal functional behaviours associated with daily life activities.

Anxiety conditions may bat of a constructive nature whereby performance can be elevated as result of the anxiety, this often being a reaction or response to fear. The most common anxiety disorders are specific phobias. Various other types of GAD include that of : (1) social anxiety disorder ( 2) Post-traumatic stress (3) Obsessive compulsive disorder. Anxiety disorder will attack around 5% of the population during their lifetime. Children in their late teens are a particular high risk group owing to the amount of stressors place upon them at this stage of their maturity. (Schneier, 2006).

Types of Disorder

Freud examined three aspects of anxiety and tension.

1. Reality Anxiety: The most basic form of anxiety based upon the fear and possibility of real events e.g. falling down some steps. The best way of tension reduction being to avoid them.
2. Neurotic Anxiety: That which comes from the unconscious mind and ultimately takes control of the person resulting in punishment
3. Moral Anxiety: That of violating your personal code of conduct and ethics that result in complexes of guilt or shame.

One of the most common anxieties relates to that of Phobias. Here the person has a fear of a certain situation and the need to avoid it. This may be items like agoraphobia (fear of the outdoors), arachnophobia (fear of spiders). Many phobias go unreported because the sufferer wishes to conceal the fact of the fear. This contrasts to that of Reality anxiety that is based upon the fear of certain known events i.e. the fear of falling down the stairs and as such avoiding the obstacle. With the phobia it is the fear that such a situation may manifest itself at some point in time and again the objective being to avoid that situation.

Avoidance behaviours may vary but include such actions as: (i) Not to do actions that may put you at risk of the situation e.g. agoraphobia – avoid going outdoors (ii) Avoid the manifestation of such actions that might create the circumstance of the fear or anxiety.

Causation of Anxiety

In general terms there is no specific single cause that leads to the development of this condition. Statistics illustrate that women are more prone to GAD than men. Equally, it is shown that those with a family history of are at increased risk of GAD. Other factors have shown that those in low income or poverty brackets are much more prone to depression and this has also been linked to drug abuse. People in the younger community have shown to be prone more to GAD than members of the older community. It has been found that teenagers who smoke tend to be at increased risk for developing GAD. This particularly impacts young girls that start to get involved with early age smoking.. (American Psychological Association, 2000)

It has been shown by research that life stressors that include both health issues and parental problems facilitate developing anxiety disorders. In a research study that was carried amongst African Americans, Hispanics and Afro Caribbean’s it was found that being part of ethnic minority groups creates stressors that facilitates increasing the risk for anxiety disorder. (Hollander, 2008).

Psychological Considerations

In simplistic terms Neuroscience may be defined as a scientific process or study into the behavioural condition of a person’s brain cells. The brain cells stimulate other bodily functions by the collection and dissemination of information from millions of nerve cells around the body. This can sometimes result in behavioural dysfunctions. In this sense the dysfunctions of the brain and spine may be considered as medical problems. Psychologists are more concerned with understanding the behavioural conditions resulting from neurological and cognitive functions.

A considerable amount of the research carried out is based around aspects of the human mind and that of cognitive psychology. Cognitive psychology is concerned with the study of the brain and human mind and the behavioural conditions in socio-cultural development. Evolution examines the biological development of man and the traits passed down through genetic linkages. The Psychodynamic factors are more associated with that of personality development and the learning capacity of humans from an early age i.e. childhood. They differ in the sense that they focus in on different aspects of the human mind i.e. the brain (cognitive), genetics (evolution) and personality (psychodynamic). Each perspective forms an important part of the holistic nature of psychology today.

Symptoms of Anxiety Disorder

GAD can be a fairly chronic illness that can be seen to last some 20 years if it is intervened by medical treatment. The treatment for this illness can last over a year in order to ensure that it resolves and does not recur. One drug used for this treatment is that of paroxetine but this has been criticised for the side effects that include increased levels of depression and in some cases suicidal tendencies. People on this medication need to be closely observed for behavioural changes. (Wagstaff, 2002).

The actual range of symptoms can vary but might include:

• An obsessive worrying about trivial matters be it small or large concerns;
• Continuous feeling of being wound up and on the edge;
• Tiredness or fatigue;
• Difficulty in trying to concentrate;
• Difficulty in sleeping;
• A shortness of breath or rapid heartbeat;
• Sweating or nausea.

The concept of GAD is not fully understood, like many other mental health conditions. One school of thought is that it might part of naturally occurring brain activities involving several different chemical reactions in the brain.

Increased Risk Factors

The Mayo clinic identified a number of factors that may increase your risk for developing GAD. These included the following:

• Female Gender – There may be genetic links as twice as many women become diagnosed with GAD over that of men;
• Child Trauma – Abused children are at high risk for developing GAD at some point in their lives;
• Chronic illness – People diagnosed with a serious illness like cancer can result in constant worries about the future i.e. family, treatment, finances etc.
• Stress – Is huge! Particularly those exposed to constant high levels of stress, this can act as a catalyst for GAD.

Treatmens For GAD

Physicians have several types of medications at their disposal in order to treat GAD. This may also include psychotherapy. Medication includes: (1) the use of anti-depressants such as Paroxetine and venlafaxine. (2) Buspirone – anti-anxiety medication that may be prescribed on a long term basis. (3) Benzodiazepines – essentially sedatives for short term relief of anxiety symptoms. May take several weeks before results are noted, subject to minor side effects. (Mayo Clinic, 2012).

Conclusion

Some anxiety orders tend to pass away over a short period of time. Those that persist should however seek medical advice from their doctor in order to prevent further deterioration, complications or more serious conditions developing.

References

American Psychological Association. (2000). Anxiety disorders in diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. In A. P. Association, Anxiety disorders in diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (pp. 450-456). Washington DC: American Psychological Association.

Hollander, E. S. (2008). American Psychiatric Textbook of Psychiatery, 5th Ed . In E. S. Hollander, American Psychiatric Textbook of Psychiatery, 5th Ed (pp. 536-546). Washington DC: American Psychiatric Publishing .

Mayo Clinic. (2012). Generalised Anxiety Disorder. Mayo Clinic.

Schneier, F. (2006). Social Anxiety Disorder. New England Journal of Medicine Vol 355 (10), 1029-1036.

Wagstaff, A. (2002). Spotlight on paroxetine in psychiatric disorder in adults. Drugs Vol 64 (2), 655-703.