Anxiety Disorders: Anxiety disorders are the experience of unrelenting and
unpleasant emotions characterized by a sense of danger, extreme concern, and
sensations of fear in situations or events that do not warrant such an extreme
response (Hansell & Damour, 2008).
Disorder/Classification
|
Definition
|
Generalized
Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
|
Generalized
anxiety disorder is characterized by chronic, pervasive and debilitating
nervousness (Hansell & Damour, 2008).
Individuals with this disorder feel tense and worried most of the time
and the worry causes distress and can interfere with normal daily
functioning.
Research suggests generalized anxiety disorder
might have a genetic component. For
many who are diagnosed with this disorder, stress tends to worsen the
symptoms. Generalized anxiety disorder
can begin as early as childhood, although the most severe symptoms may
manifest more slowly than in some of the other anxiety disorders (Hansell
& Damour, 2008).
Sometimes this disorder is a psychological response
to an event or a chronic stressor in adulthood. The anxiety can be chronic for many people
but therapeutic intervention from a trained medical professional can help to
relieve symptoms, and it can be managed to the extent of having no further
symptoms (Hansell & Damour, 2008).
|
Panic
Disorder
|
Panic
disorder causes individuals to experience episodes of intense terror which
causes internal turmoil, fear, distress, and often impairment to daily
functioning. Panic attacks are
characterized by overwhelming anxiety, fear of death, or need to escape. These attacks are not at all like the
chronic anxiety of generalized anxiety disorder. Panic attacks are severe episodes of
extremely debilitating anxiety.
Sometimes even the thought of having a panic attack will cause people
to stay home for fear of triggering an attack. In its worse forms, panic disorder can have
a significant effect on normal functioning (Hansell & Damour, 2008).
|
Phobias
|
Phobias
are persistent, irrational fears of events, situations, or objects. According to Hansell
and
Damour (2008), they are the most common anxiety disorders listed in the
DSM-IV-TR. They are persistent and
exaggerated and most people make great effort to avoid the feared object or
situation. Phobias, especially when
common objects or situations can be disruptive and inconvenient and can, in
its most severe examples, cause difficulty in normal functioning (National
Institutes of Health, 2010).
Phobias are an extremely strong and irrational fear
of something that poses little to no real danger (National Institutes of
Health, 2010).
|
Obsessive-Compulsive
Disorder
|
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a condition characterized by unwanted
repetitive and anxiety -producing thoughts accompanied by the compulsive act
of rituals that the individual believes will protect them from the anxiety
(Hansell & Damour, 2008). The
obsessions are thoughts or impulses over which the individual has no control
except to apply the ritual for relief, and the compulsions make the individual
feel driven to do something (usually the ritualistic practice for the purpose
of relieving the anxiety (Hansell & Damour, 2008).
|
Acute
Stress Disorder
|
Acute stress disorder is a significant posttraumatic disorder in which
individuals experience severe anxiety within one month of exposure to an
overwhelming emotional experience in which there is real or perceived threat
for injury or death to themselves or a loved one (Hansell & Damour, 2008).
A diagnosis
of acute stress disorder is indicated if an individual experiences a range of
symptoms that last longer than two days, although less than a month, and
co-exists with a feeling of being detached from one's own body and causes distress and significant impairment
to normal functioning (Hansell & Damour, 2008).
|
Posttraumatic
Stress Disorder
|
Posttraumatic stress disorder is characterized by anxiety symptoms
which occur more than one
month after experiencing a traumatic event. Typically a range of stress symptoms
continues for longer than a month and may co-exist with a change in mental
state. There are three different types
of posttraumatic stress disorder: acute, when stress symptoms are experienced
for less than three months; chronic, when symptoms last longer than three
months; and delayed onset, when the symptoms of stress are delayed and their
onset is six months or longer after the traumatic experience (Hansell &
Damour, 2008).
|
Mood Disorders: The central symptom in mood disorders is a significant
disruption in mood. Mood disorders are characterized
by extreme and intense moods and those that seem inappropriate to the context
within which they occur (Hansell & Damour, 2008).
Disorder
|
Definition
|
Major
Depressive Disorder
|
Major depressive disorder is also called
major depression, unipolar depression, or clinical depression. This disorder consists of depressive
episodes which are severe and continue for extended periods. When an individual has more than one
episode of depression, it is called recurrent major depressive disorder
(Hansell & Damour, 2009). When
individuals have a major depressive disorder, they have a characteristically
depressed mood and a loss of interest or pleasure in activities which they
previously enjoyed (Schimelpfening, 2009).
The depressive symptoms must be constant for at least two weeks.
People who have major depression are at
a higher risk for suicide, and it is important to determine if an individual
might have this tendency as professional medical help can deter such
attempts. All age groups are affected
by this disorder, even as young as six months.
Symptoms include daily depression,
diminished capacity to enjoy normal activities, weight loss or weight gain,
insomnia or hypersomnia, agitation, fatigue, feelings of worthlessness or
excessive guilt, inability to concentrate, and suicidal ideation.
|
Dysthymic
Disorder
(Minor
depression)
|
Dysthymic
disorder, also called minor depression, consists of two or more years of
consistent depressive symptoms characterized as chronically mild depression,
but consistent. Even though symptoms
of dysthymic disorder are not severe enough to meet criteria of major
depression, it is debilitating and oppressive for its victims.
Symptoms
may include depression, irritability, eating or sleeping disturbances,
fatigue, and low self-esteem, and are chronic and persist for long periods. Individuals with dysthymic disorder may
feel withdrawn and ineffective. They
have the potential to experience major depressive episodes which is known as
double depression (Hansell & Damour, 2009). In this case the individual is diagnosed
with both disorders simultaneously.
Treatments
for dysthymia are usually the same as for major depression and include
antidepressant medications and psychotherapy.
|
Bipolar
I Disorder
|
Bipolar
disorder is characterized by mood swings that run on a spectrum from mild to
severe and alternate between elevated or manic episodes to depression (Schimelpfening,
2007). The severity can range from mild hypomanias
to debilitating manic highs, and these manias can last for hours, days, weeks
and even months before depressive symptoms return. Sometimes the individual can display mixed
episodes in which they experience the manic and depressive states
simultaneously. The average for
individuals is four mood cycles in the first 10 years of having the
disorder. It is important to receive
appropriate medical intervention because the manic and depressive patterns
may intensify and occur more frequently over time (Hansell & Damour,
2008).
The
variation in the way individuals cycle through episodes can range
dramatically from having four or more cycles in one year to having no
symptoms for many years. The disorder
is highly
individualized
in the way individuals experience mood cycles, sometimes having several
episodes, then none for an extended period of time (Schimelpfening,
2007).
|
Bipolar
II Disorder
|
Cyclothymic disorder consists of mood swings less severe, although more
constant than both bipolar disorders.
In this disorder, mood swings continue for at least two years, and the
changes in mood alternates between extremely manic highs and lows with
depressive symptoms. Cyclothymic
disorder can worsen over time and15 to 50 percent of people with this
disorder may develop bipolar I or II in the future (Hansell & Damour,
2008).
|
Cyclothymic
Disorder
|
Cyclothymic disorder is a milder form of bipolar
disorder in which individuals have mood swings that extend over several years
and cycle between mild depression to euphoria and excitement. The causes of this disorder are unknown,
although it may share a genetic component with major depression and bipolar
disorder. Research suggests all three
disorders occur among family members so they may share similar causes
(Hansell & Damour, 2008).
Cyclothymia usually affects individuals early in
life and it affects men and women equally (Pub Med Health, 2010). Although this condition can advance to
bipolar disorder, less than half of the individuals diagnosed will do
so. Cyclothymia will often continue as
a chronic disorder, or will disappear at some point (Pub Med Health, 2010).
|
Dissociation Disorders: Dissociation
disorders are significant disruptions in individual's conscious experience,
memory, sense of identity, or a combination of any of the three and without
physical cause. Dissociation disorders
disrupt daily normal functioning (Hansell & Damour, 2008).
Disorder/Classification
|
Definition
|
Depersonalization
Disorder
|
Dissociative
disorders are those in which the individual is affected by feelings of
detachment from themselves, or a sense that their environment in unreal, or
surreal. The detachment from one's
mental processes or body is persistent and/or recurring. The individuals may have an out- of-body
experience, or feel as if they are in a movie, or that life is like a
dream. They feel disconnected and
detached, although are able to distinguish between their own internal
experiences and the reality of the world outside them. As such, this disorder is not considered a
psychosis (Hansell & Damour, 2008).
Individuals
with depersonalization disorder are not a risk to others because even though
they have feelings of detachment, they can always distinguish between what is
based in reality and what is not (Hansell & Damour, 2008).
|
Dissociation
Amnesia
|
Dissociative amnesia, formerly called psychogenic
amnesia, is one of a group of conditions called dissociative disorders.
Dissociative disorders are mental illnesses that involve disruptions or
breakdowns of memory, consciousness or awareness, identity and/or perception. These symptoms can interfere with a
person’s general functioning, including social and work activities, and
relationships.
Dissociative amnesia occurs when a people block
out certain information, usually associated with a stressful or traumatic
event, leaving them unable to remember important personal information. With
this disorder, the degree of memory loss goes beyond normal forgetfulness and
includes gaps in memory for long periods of time or of memories involving the
traumatic event.
Dissociative amnesia is not the same as simple
amnesia, which involves a loss of information from the memory, usually as the
result of disease or injury to the brain. With dissociative
amnesia, the memories still exist but are deeply
buried within the person’s mind and cannot be recalled. However, the memories
might resurface on their own or after being triggered by something in the
person’s surroundings.
|
Dissociation
Fugue
|
The main symptom
of this condition is the creation of physical distance from your real identity.
For example, individuals with this condition may travel abruptly, forgetting
who they are, and even creating a new identity somewhere else.
A fugue may
last a few hours or even several months and ends as abruptly as it
began. When the fugue ends, the
individual may be confused and disoriented and has no idea where they have
been, how they arrived, and what they have done during the "lost"
time.
|
Dissociation
Identity Disorder
|
Dissociative
identity disorder is a severe form of dissociation, which causes an inability
to make normal connections between thoughts, memories, feelings, behaviors,
and self-identity. Psychological
science believes dissociative identity disorder has its basis in the
experience of severe trauma. Dissociating is considered a coping
mechanism and by dissociating themselves from a situation or experience that
is too difficult with which to cope. By dissociating, the new self copes for the
individual (Hansell & Damour, 2008).
This disorder
involves individuals experiencing at least two identities or personality
states, each of which has a consistent personality and temperament. Some individuals with this disorder demonstrate
distinctly different physiological responses such as pulse, blood pressure,
and blood flow to the brain (Hansell & Damour, 2008).
|
Somatoform Disorders: A group of disorders characterized by physical
symptoms that are experienced as part of a medical condition but have no
physical or medical basis. Psychological
stress is usually the underlying cause or the reason for the conditions or it
exacerbates the symptoms (PsyWeb.com, 2011).
Disorder/Classification
|
Definition
|
Somatization
Disorder
|
The level of
pain associated with the symptoms can interfere with everyday activities and
cause the individual to seek constant medical attention. Stress can exacerbate symptoms. In most individuals with this diagnosis,
they experience a continual cycle of pain and worry over which they have no
control. Evidence suggests many who
have this disorder have experienced physical or sexual abuse, but not all who
have somatization disorder have a history of such abuse (Hansell &
Damour, 2008).
|
Undifferentiated
Somatoform Disorder
|
Undifferentiated somatoform disorder is a milder form of
somatization disorder that lasts at least six months and is characterized by
physical complaints that have no physical basis or medical condition. When there is an affiliated medical
condition, the pain is far more excessive than would ordinarily be associated
with such a condition (Hansell & Damour, 2008).
|
Conversion
Disorder
|
Conversion disorder is a condition in which
individuals demonstrate psychological stress in physical ways. The condition
was named "conversion" disorder because ordinarily the problem
starts as a psychological challenge or emotional crisis, then converts to a
physical condition (Hansell & Damour, 2008).
In this disorder, an individual's legs may become
paralyzed after a fall, even though there is no
evidence of physical injury. Even though the individual's symptoms
appear with no apparent physical cause, the symptoms cannot be controlled.
|
Pain
Disorder
|
Pain disorder
causes chronic pain, usually in one or more areas and is caused by
psychological stress. Pain is the
primary symptom, yet the main cause is psychological factors, and these
factors maintain and exacerbate the condition. The pain can be severe enough to disable
the individual's normal functioning.
The pain can be short-lived for only a few days or it can be chronic,
lasting several years. Women are more
prone to this disorder than are men, and it can begin at any age. Often this disorder happens after an
accident or illness that causes pain and the pain seems to take on a life of
its own (Hansell & Damour, 2008).
|
Body
Dysmorphic Disorder
|
Body dysmorphic disorder is a chronic mental
illness in which individuals cannot stop thinking about a specific flaw,
usually an imagined or minor one, in their appearance. This disorder has been called imagined
ugliness disorder because people diagnosed with this disorder believe their
appearance is so distorted or flawed, they do not want to associate with
others or be seen in public (Hansell & Damour, 2008).
Individuals who have body dysmorphic disorder
obsessively dwell on their appearance and body image, for long periods, even
for hours at a time. Some people go to
the extent of surgeries to correct their perceived flaws, although they are
never satisfied with results.
Sometimes people are extremely fearful about having a deformity, even
if they do not have one; they worry about having one later. This disorder is a debilitating preoccupation
with imagined or highly exaggerated defects (Hansell & Damour, 2008).
|
Hypochondriasis
|
Hypochondriasis is
having a chronic fear of illness even when there is none. Individuals may experience physical
sensations and exaggerate them as a sign of serious illness. In this condition, there is no medical
evidence that a real illness is present.
Individuals who have hypochondria have no control over their concerns,
and readily believe any symptom or feeling is a symptom of a serious illness (Pub
Med Health, 2010).
People with this disorder constantly and
regularly seek the help of friends, family, and health care
professionals. Although they might
feel better for a while, they will worry about the same symptom again soon,
or discover a new symptom with which to concern themselves (Hansell &
Damour, 2009). Symptoms are often
vague and changeable. Individuals with
this condition often examine their bodies.
Some understand their fears are unreasonable and unfounded (Pub Med
Health, 2010).
|
References
Hansell, J., & Damour,
L. (2008). Abnormal psychology. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
National Institutes
of Health. (2010). Phobias: MedlinePlus. National Library of Medicine -
National Institutes of Health. Retrieved May 12, 2011, from
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/phobias.html
PsyWeb.com. (2011).
Somatoform Disorders. PSYweb Complete Mental Health Site. Retrieved May
12, 2011, from http://www.psyweb.com/mdisord/jsp/somatd.jsp
PubMed Health.
(2010). Cyclothymic disorder. Retrieved May 12, 2011, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002517/
PubMed Health.
(2010). Hypochondria. PubMed Health. Retrieved May 12, 2011, from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002216/
Schimelpfening, N.
(2007). Bipolar disorder - definition of bipolar disorder. About Depression
- Information and Support for Depression. Retrieved May 12, 2011, from
http://depression.about.com/od/bipolar/g/bipolardisorder.htm
Schimelpfening, N.
(2009). Major depressive disorder - DSM-IV criteria for major depressive
disorder. About Depression - Information and Support for Depression.
Retrieved May 12, 2011, from http://depression.about.com/cs/diagnosis/a/mdd.htm
Simeon, D., &
Abugel, J. (2006). Feeling Unreal: Depersonalization Disorder and the Loss
of the Self. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
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