Unstable Mental Health Condition: Anxiety Disorders (Research Paper Sample)

Anxiety Disorder
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Anxiety Disorder
According to the cognitive theory, anxiety can be described as a situation where an individual overestimates danger in any given case—cognitive theory associates the overestimation of risk to an experience that might have caused devastating implications. The cognitive theory describes behavioral therapy as the best method of dealing with an anxiety disorder (Borkovec, & Costello, 2018).
Anxiety disorder can be described as a physiological disorder characterized by an unstable mental health condition. One is usually in fear of responding to things and activities in everyday life. The mindset usually describes anxiety disorder. They feel nervousness, increased heartbeat rate, trembling, fatigue, and rapid breathing (Borkovec, & Costello, 2018). Anxiety disorders can be grouped based on their general characteristics: generalized anxiety disorders, panics disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and social phobia, commonly referred to as social anxiety disorder. The diagnostic and statistical manual for mental disorders general classifies fear, avoidance, and anxiety as critical features in anxiety disorders. According to DM5, anxiety disorder is one of the most challenging mental problems to deal with upon its proper establishment in the body. In many cases, anxiety disorders are usually accompanied by personality disorders, making it very hard for health practitioners to make early diagnostics.
Anxiety disorders diagnostic shift at many instances usually involve panic. Panic can be described in two distinctive ways according to the DM5, that is, the expected and unexpected panic attack. Panic attacks in the anxiety disorder can be expected when an individual suffering from an anxiety disorder is exposed to the conditions or situations that are likely to trigger the disorder. On the other hand, unexpected panic disorders are usually described as a disorder that may occur without indicating any prior sign (Borkovec, & Costello, 2018).
Agoraphobia can be described as a syndrome that is mainly associated with avoidance. In many instances, agoraphobia can be characterized by fear, physical insecurity, and other feelings which may occur as either severe or mild in different cases. Agoraphobia can be directly linked to anxiety disorder. According to the DSM5, agoraphobia can be categorically distinctive in diagnosis and help generate stressors and psychiatric syndromes. Additionally, the panic attacks that usually result from agoraphobia trigger fear and individual emotions.
Separation anxiety disorder is another critical form of anxiety disorder that usually affects kids under 18. Separation disorder is mainly caused by stress or fear of separation from one loved one. DMS5 describes the major separation cause to be illness, job separation, and other instances of traveling-related partitions (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). According to the DSM5, separation disorder anxiety disorders can be grouped based on the patient reaction to the breakup, recurrent excessive distress, and persistent excessive distress (Cui et al., 2020). Recurrent pain is usually experienced when individuals think of separation and anticipate separation from their significant attachments (Mossman et al., 2017). In contrast, ongoing distress occurs in cases where one experiences the fear of harming their loved ones (Borkovec, & Costello, 2018).
Another crucial change in the DSM5 is an obsessive-compulsive disorder. Obsessive-compulsive disorder can be described as an unstable mental state where one keeps on having and experiencing undesired thoughts (Arch & Ayers, 2020). The undesired studies in obsessive-compulsive disorder include the ideas of bad experiences such as accidents, loss of loved ones, and some shameful moments in life (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). In some cases, the obsessive-compulsive disorder can be caused due to other factors such as hereditary factors, where one inherits the gene of obsessive-compulsive disorder from their parents. Abnormalities and disorders can also cause obsessive-compulsive disorder in the brain (Dugas et al., 2019).In severe cases, the obsessive-compulsive disorder may stimulate suicidal thoughts, cause addiction to substances, and damage skin (Kaczkurkin & Foa, 2018).
Current diagnostic criteria for the disorder from the DSM-5
According to the DSM outline on the diagnostic criteria, the first step involves looking for implications such as hindering worry and critically employing a diagnostic approach to handle the situation (Mossman et al., 2017). The first criteria applied include the establishment of symptoms. The anxiety disorder diagnostic criteria involve the professional establishing excess anxiety, whether the worry experienced is complicated and challenging to control, the pressure accompanied by either fatigue, impaired concentration, or sleeping difficulties (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
After analyzing the result, the clinical expert makes a diagnostic conclusion based on the initial stage of diagnosis (Mossman et al., 2017). The judgment is at times dependent on the patient's honesty, as some of the medical expert's questions may be used to arrive at a diagnostic conclusion (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
A critical step in diagnostic anxiety criteria from DSM5 is the treatment of the anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorder can be treated using the medicine, psychotherapy, or a combination of psychotherapy and medicinal remedy.
Example
John was an 11 years old boy who was taken to for cognitive behavioral therapy for severe anxiety about losing his parents. According to Johns's parents, the separation anxiety disorder was diagnosed after John watched a horror movie about a hazardous virus that killed all people's parents, leaving the children suffering. After watching the horror movie, John was scared of contracting the imaginary virus and his parents contacting the deadly fictional virus.
Johns's parents dragonized him with shortness of breath, sweat, dizziness, and general fear, mainly witnessed during sleep. Additionally, John also kept complaining about severe headaches, pain due to fear, and stomach pains. Johns's fears primarily developed around losing the parents; he would generally feel unwell, sick, and worried about the parents while they were at work. Consequently, he would feel okay upon the parents arriving back home. Johns's parents booked several psychotherapy sessions that were mainly aimed at helping them manage the separation disorder and help John overcome the separation disorder. Genetic analysis on the parents realized that the Johns family had a history of social phobia on the mother's side, while Johns's father denied any anxiety disorder in their family.
On diagnosis, John was a thrilled boy, cooperative, and hardworking in school. According to John, he was so determined to get over himself, manage the anxiety and live a better life like before.
Discussion
John displayed some symptoms of separation disorder; to establish the disorder's validity, DSM5 requires at least an exhibition of the three out of height symptoms. In the case of John, there was an exhibition of 5 signs. Despite having panic attacks, the symptoms displayed for a panic attack to be established and proved were not exhibited. Still, instead, the panic attack was mainly associated with the fear of separation from parents.
The genetic analysis which identified John's grandmother with an anxiety disorder critically disposes John to be a victim of an anxiety disorder. In DSM IV, separation disorder was mainly located in the condition that commenced at infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and if not correctly taken care of, can extend into adulthood (Majdandžić et al., 2018). In the cases of