Anxiety Disorders Essay | Assignment

Running head: ESSAY 1
Anxiety disorders are a best characterised as categorical disorders
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ESSAY 2
Introduction
Anxiety disorders are category of mental disorders that are predominantly characterized
by substantial feelings of dread and anxiety. Anxiety refers to trepidation or worries about
impending future, and fear manifested in the form of response to contemporary events. Anxiety
disorders have been identified as one of the most prevalent types of psychiatric disorders
and have a present worldwide prevalence of approximately 7.3% (Thibaut, 2017). Though they
are mental disorders, under most circumstances, anxiety disorders lead to physical symptoms like
an increase in heart rate and tremor. There are different types of anxiety disorders that are social
anxiety disorder, panic disorder, separation anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder,
selective mutism, agoraphobia, and specific phobia (Hedges, Farrer, Bigler & Hopkins,
2019). Nonetheless, difference between the aforementioned disorders is primarily dependent on
the signs and symptoms, and individuals frequently suffer from more than one type of anxiety
disorder. Research evidences also highlight that there exists high comorbidity between anxiety
disorder, particularly panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder with other psychiatric
disorders like depression (Eysenck & Fajkowska, 2018).
Symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder and generalized anxiety disorder also overlap
(Byllesby, Charak, Durham, Wang & Elhai, 2016). As a direct consequence anxiety disorders
typically remain underdiagnosed standard not appropriately treated in primary care facilities.
Hence, it can be stated that, anxiety disorders are discrete, however they have overlapping signs
and symptoms with other disorders. This essay will focus on the factors that underpin the onset
and development of anxiety disorder, following which will elaborate on difference treatment
approaches and the reliability utility and validity of the Diagnostic criteria.

ESSAY 3
Diagnosis
Anxiety disorders are generally thought to be chronic mental health conditions that begin
from an early stage or after a particular triggering event. They are prone to increase their
manifestation manifold when an individual is frequently subjected to stress. The words fear and
anxiety are used interchangeably; however, have distinct meanings (Rabinak et al., 2017). While
fear refers to the physiological and emotional response of an individual to an external threat,
anxiety refers to an unpleasant emotional condition where the cause cannot be either
appropriately recognized, or it is perceived to be unavoidable or uncontrollable.
Anxiety disorder diagnosis is principally difficult owing to the fact that there are no
objective biomarkers and the symptoms are expected to be manifested by the affected individuals
for a minimum duration of six months, to be appropriately diagnosed. Anxiety disorders are
diagnosed with the use of different questionnaires such as, Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI),
Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the Zung
Self-Rating Anxiety Scale. In contrast, there are other questionnaires used for both depression
and anxiety measurement like Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ), Hospital Anxiety and
Depression Scale (HADS), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale. The BAI comprises of 21 multiple
choice self-reported questions that enquire about common anxiety symptoms that a subject has
experienced in the past week. While high scores (26-63) provide an indication of severe anxiety,
scores within 0-7 suggest minimal anxiety (Saal, Kagee & Bantjes, 2019). Low reliability of this
questionnaire and can be accredited to the fact that despite anxiety comprising of several
components like somatic, effective, cognitive, and behavioural, this tool takes into consideration
only somatic and cognitive component (Clark et al., 2016). While the somatic subscale assesses
physiological arousal, the latter determines impairment in cognitive functioning and fearful

ESSAY 4
thoughts. It is also criticized for the emphasis that it places on physical symptoms. It has also
been found that in primary care patients with anxiety disorders; BAI has been associated with
measurement of depression thus, indicating its failure in adequately differentiating between the
overlapping symptoms (Phan et al., 2016).
On the contrary, STAI is a likert scale that comprises of 40 questions assessing trait or
state anxiety. It coordinates highest scores with increased level of anxiety, and is predominantly
used by clinicians for diagnosing anxiety in individuals belonging to very socio-economic
backgrounds. In addition, it also proves beneficial in discriminating between depression and
anxiety symptoms (Booth, Sharma & Leader, 2016). One significant limitation is that since it
characterizes anxiety that is present in individual since a long time, it becomes particularly
problematic for clinicians to detect changes that have occurred over a comparatively short
duration (Al-Yateem & Brenner, 2017). Usefulness and reliability of the GAD-7 can be
associated to the fact that it comprises of seven items that evaluate the severity of symptoms,
based on response of the subjects. Scores of 5, 10, and 15 represent mild, moderate and severe
anxiety. Although this self-administered questionnaire is sensitive for assessment of generalized
anxiety disorder, it cannot be e used for replacing clinical assessment (Plummer, Manea, Trepel
& McMillan, 2016).
This is in contrast to the HAM-A, which is used for determining feasibility of
anxiety. Despite the wide availability of this psychological questionnaire that is based on
clinician rated scale, significant issues are associated with interpretation of the result.
Administration of the tool influences the subject by the pattern of explaining a particular
question (Zimmerman et al., 2017). Additionally, this tool was developed prior to the DSM-III
that replaced generalized anxiety disorder to a disorder of worry. Not only does it become