Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety Disorders: Fear focus

• All anxiety disorders have a significant FEAR that affects their behavior

  • Withdrawing from friends, family, leisure activities and work

    • Ex:

      • A person who keeps eyes downcast and fails to make eye contact with others (social anxiety)

      • A student with severe fear of looking foolish while reading aloud (phobia)

Anxiety Disorders = Fear

• Panic disorders: Repeated/unexpected panic attacks (shorts of breath, racing pulse, dizziness, and nausea), fear of the fear response itself

• Phobias: Fears in response to a specific stimulus

• Postraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Stressful event triggers repeated anxiety events

• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD): Obsession (thoughts) and/or time consuming (behavi

Anxiety: Face your Fear

• Interventions come in 2 paths

  • Face the fear

  • Reduce fear through relaxation

Andirty: Face your fear Interventions

• Cognitive Behavioral Approach

  • Helps clients confront fears so they can change their response or recognize that they have survived despite the physiological or cognitive emotions experienced

• Exposure Therapy & Desensitization

  • Helps weaken fear

• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

  • Reprocessing thoughts as non-threatening

• Interpersonal Skills Training/Assertiveness Training

  • Socialization training to address social anxiety

Anxiety: Relax & Reduce Fear

• Relaxation Training

  • Mindfulness, Meditation, Visualization, Deep breathing, Autogenetic Training (self-talk)

• Biofeedback

  • Looks at biological states (HR, BP, Sweating, temperature) that are normally involuntary and then try to gain control over the responses

ENVIRONMENTS SHOULD BE CALM, COMFY AND FAMILIAR!

Anxiety: Other Interventions

• Psychodynamic FoR

  • Uses expressive writing, arts/crafts, journaling and daily writing

    • (Ex: mosaic tiles, woodworking kit)

• Time Management

  • Break down tasks into smaller, achievable steps if client gets overwhelmed, incorporate schedules and “to do” lists

Anxiety Keyline

• Take a Deep breath and Face your Fears