Assignment: Anxiety Disorders, PTSD, and Related Disorders

Anxiety disorders are common in both primary care and psychiatric practice. Clients with anxiety disorders including generalized anxiety disorders, agoraphobia, and other specific phobias will present to the PMHNP's office with a significant level of distress. Successful recognition and treatment of anxiety disorders includes an accurate diagnostic assessment with a treatment plan that includes a combination of psychopharmacology and psychotherapy. Although psychoanalytic theories are based on the concept of anxiety, the more recent standard of care is with the cognitive-behavioral therapies.

Task

• Explain the difference between an adjustment disorder and anxiety disorder. Provide examples to illustrate your rationale.

• Explain the diagnostic criteria for your assigned anxiety disorder. Which is "Generalized Anxiety Disorder"

• Explain the evidenced-based psychotherapy and psychopharmacologic treatment for your assigned anxiety disorder.Which is "Generalized Anxiety Disorder"

• Compare differential diagnostic features of anxiety disorder

• Support your rationale with recent references (<5yrs) to the Learning Resources or other academic resource.

Learning Resources

Required Readings

Sadock, B. J., Sadock, V. A., & Ruiz, P. (2014). Kaplan & Sadock's synopsis of psychiatry: Behavioral sciences/clinical psychiatry (11th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer.

• Chapter 9, "Anxiety Disorders" (pp. 387-417)
• Chapter 11, "Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders" (pp. 437-451)

Gabbard, G. O. (2014). Gabbard's treatment of psychiatric disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publications.

• Chapter 16, "Panic Disorder"
• Chapter 18, "Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia)"
• Chapter 19, "Generalized Anxiety Disorder"
• Chapter 20, "Specific Phobia".

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

• "Anxiety Disorders"
• "Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders"

Stahl, S. M. (2014). Prescriber's Guide: Stahl's Essential Psychopharmacology (5th ed.). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

To access information on specific medications, click on The Prescriber's Guide, 5th Ed. tab on the Stahl Online website and select the appropriate medication.