All people feel nervous from time to time. However,
sometimes fear or anxiety becomes so intense that it interferes with their
ability to function at home, school, work, or in interpersonal relationships.
When an individual’s anxiety is consistently greater than normal for their age
and the situation, seeking help from a mental health professional may
beneficial. There are several different types of anxiety disorders that
affect children and adults.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
People with GAD experience excessive and uncontrollable worries and fears
in a variety of areas. The focus of worries often includes school or work
performance, future events, and social activities. People with this disorder
also may be perfectionistic and worry whether their performance meets
unreasonably high standards. Individuals with GAD also often report physical
symptoms, such as headaches or stomachaches.
Phobias
A
phobia is characterized by an intense fear of a specific circumstance or
object that poses no real danger. Simple phobias, such as fear of dogs or
the dark, are extremely common among young children and tend to disappear with
age. However, when the fear causes the individual excessive fear and to
actively avoid the feared object in such a way that it interferes with daily
activities or interpersonal relationships, treatment may be beneficial.
Social phobia
is characterized by excessive anxiety about, and avoidance of, social situations
due to excessive concerns about negative evaluation or fears of rejection.
Situations that are often a concern include classroom presentations or speeches,
parties, and dating. When people are faced with a feared social or performance
event, they often experience significant anxiety and physical symptoms (e.g.,
sweating, rapid heart rate, shaking, stomachaches, and dizziness).
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and fluoxetine (Prozac) are equally effective
for generalized social phobia (GSP), and the combination is not better than CBT
alone, according to the results of a randomized trial published in the October
2004 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry. Further, a study published in
the Archives in General Psychiatry (Furmark et al., 2002) found similar
neurological changes in the brains of patients who responded CBT as those who
responded to medication.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Obsessions are persistent, uncontrollable, and unwanted irrational thoughts or
ideas. People with OCD attempt to ignore, suppress, or neutralize the thoughts
with some other thought or action. Compulsions are repetitive behaviors (e.g.,
hand washing, ordering, checking) or mental acts (e.g., praying, counting,
repeating words or numbers in their mind) that people with OCD feel “driven” to
do in response to an obsession or rigid adherence to rules. These compulsions
are attempts at reducing distress or preventing a dreaded situation from
occurring, even though the compulsive acts realistically cannot do so and often
interfere with one’s life. Obsessions and compulsions cause people marked
anxiety or distress. Although adults are aware that obsessions or compulsions
are unreasonable or excessive, children with OCD may or may not be.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and medication are the two treatments
with the most research support for effectiveness.
Separation Anxiety Disorder
Although anxiety over separation is a normal part of growing up, and most
children react with unhappiness at being separated from their parents
occasionally, this anxiety should decrease as children get older.
Separation anxiety disorder occurs when the distress upon routine separation
from parents or the home environment is excessive and inappropriate for a
child’s age. This disorder can occur suddenly in a child who previously
handled separation well. Clinging, crying, panic, physical symptoms (e.g.,
stomachache, headache), and tantrums are common reactions of young children
suffering from separation anxiety disorder. In older children, unrealistic
worry about harm to or abandonment by loved ones, reluctance to sleep alone,
school refusal, and physical symptoms are signs of separation anxiety disorder.
Panic Disorder
Panic
disorder is characterized by sudden, intense, and unprovoked feelings of fear or
discomfort. Common symptoms include difficulty breathing, a pounding heart,
sweating, dizziness, and shaking. Often, people worry about having another
“panic attack” or avoid a variety of situations in an attempt to prevent it from
happening again. In agoraphobia, which is often comorbid with panic
disorder, individuals may avoid public places or refuse to leave their homes at
all. Panic disorder is more common in adolescents and adults than in young
children.
Click here for more answers to your questions about Panic
Disorder. We
currently offer a Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy program for adults with
Panic. Click
here for more information about our group therapy program.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Individuals with PTSD have witnessed or experienced a seriously traumatic event
that evoked intense fear, helplessness, or horror. Traumatic events can include
physical or sexual abuse, natural disasters in which there was a threat to
safety (e.g., hurricanes, tornadoes), and witnessing or experiencing domestic
violence. Following the trauma, individuals with PTSD often re-experience the
event through uncontrollable thoughts, repetitive play in children, nightmares,
or intense physical symptoms (e.g., rapid heart rate, sweating) when exposed to
signs or cues that resemble part of the event. People with PTSD may also
persistently avoid things associated with the traumatic event and may appear
“numb” or unresponsive. Other symptoms include sleep problems, irritability or
angry outbursts, difficulty concentrating, and an easy startle response. In
PTSD, symptoms indicate a change from prior functioning and cause significant
distress or impairment.
A
thorough evaluation and accurate diagnosis are necessary to guide intervention
with anxiety disorders. Extensive research has demonstration successful
outcomes with the use of cognitive-behavior therapy in individual, family, or
group formats. Cognitive-behavioral therapy focuses on helping individual
identify and change maladaptive patterns of thinking and behavior. Furthermore,
anxiety symptoms may also respond well to medication, which may be used in
conjunction with psychotherapy.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT KIDS AND ANXIETY
DISORDERS
