Anxiety Treatment - Research Paper Example

? Integrative Project Part I Paper Chasitie Bell Capella COUN 6935 Winter Quarter, Human psychology differs from individualsand is expressed separately. This is similar to the modes of expression of different feelings portrayed by different individuals. All this to some extend depends on the workings of the human mind and the capability to handle situations differently. Researchers have found that people from similar geographical location or even from the same backgrounds react to circumstances in far fetched ways. As much as the concept of genes and science works, it cannot be quantified in similar ways. Let’s say it is the concept of cognitive behavior and psychological workings of a human mind. The case is similar to anxiety. This paper seeks to explore the concept of anxiety with regard to adults between the age of 18and 25 and with an interest group of many patients suffering from anxiety attacks (Guilford,2001). Introduction Anxiety which can also be called anger or a state of worry is psychological and is characterized by cognitive, emotional and behavioral factor. The expression of this feeling may be accompanied by concentration problems, fatigue, uneasiness, fear and worry. The feeling can be confused for fear but is entirely different and in the case of failure to compress it turns to disorder. Whereas fear is a real danger and can be concrete, anxiety on the other side is just a paranoia of the existence of something that might be there or even not there that seems to be threatening but may not be. Population of interest The major group targeted is adults between the age of 18 and 25 who are subject to anxiety attacks. The research is done through questioning 40 volunteers who suffer from this issue. Needs assessment Human therapists have come up with many suggestions to treat panic attacks and disorders. The most common of them include cognitive behavior therapy and solution focused therapy in the treatment of about 80% of the population suffering from anxiety disorders.. Other forms of available treatment relate to parental anxiety management, hypnotherapy treatments, herbal treatments, caffeine elimination and combined treatments (Guilford,2001).The parental anxiety management identifies the facts that parents are a leading cause of anxiety and the variable involved in parenting can be disastrous. It is estimated that violent environment contribute to 40% of anxiety dilemmas among teenagers. Hypnotherapy treatments include a mental focus on what happens and a patient is taken back mentally to a state of near death and is commonly used to treat phobias and posttraumatic stress disorders. Herbal treatments include the use of traditional medicine such as passionflower and kava and this form of treatment has been subjected to disapproval in the current world. Caffeine elimination is also used as a form of treatment for some people when they take less of it. Combined treatment methods have been used by therapists and common is a combination of parental anxiety management and cognitive behavioral therapy. Other forms of treatments include electroconvulsive therapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation and psychosurgery which are applied when all other forms of treatments have failed (Berg,1991). Literature review For adults between the age of 18 and 25, the cognitive behavior therapy seems to work best for those with short term problems. However, this does not eliminate the solution focused therapy which is equally satisfying. The fifth session of the solution building technique is important and vital as it establishes the solution and possible positive thought. The final stage of the cognitive behavior technique is more important as it provides a total change in behavior and attitude. In comparison, the solution focused therapy offer more lasting solution and therefore is more recommended than the cognitive behavior approach. In approximation, SFT is more applicable in 90% effective and long-term solution of anxiety disorder than CBT which covers only a 70% of the cases Cognitive behavior therapy This is basically a change in the thoughts of an individual. The patient is asked to give a description of what they feel towards a certain event, thing or action that leads to their anxiety. This method is short term and used to help individuals with common and specific issues. The treatments help individuals to identify the issues or destructive thought patterns that have a negative influence on the actions of a person. The major underlying principle in this method of treatment is that the thoughts of a person's trigger feelings that determine the behavior of the individual. A person who spends most of his time thinking about the negative aspects of his or her life is more likely to act in that manner. In this case cognitive behavior approach tries to center the person to positive thinking and explains that while one cannot control what happens around them, they have an influence and can control their thought pattern. In the 21st century, this method has become popular especially with professional therapists and mental health consumer. The method encompasses a wide range of skills and concepts derived from the mental, human emotion and behavior. The common approaches to this form of treatment include rational emotive therapy, cognitive therapy and multimodal therapy (Guilford,2001). The first part of cognitive behavior therapy helps to combat the destructive thoughts of an individual to the behaviors. This is because, the thought pattern of a person triggers beliefs that invoke attitudes and eventual actions. The therapist starts the session by helping a person to identify these beliefs and therefore the patient gain insights and self discovery. This is a very difficult phase but which is vital but through which 80% of the people who have used it have faired well (Miller,1992). The second part involves a focus on the real actual behaviors that contribute to the issue at hand. The therapists invoke the client to gain actions that can be applied in the real world and avoid the situation. In this case, the method is gradual and the patient takes slow steps towards behavior change. The use of this method is wide and the impact is felt especially when dealing with patients suffering from anxiety, phobias, depression and addiction. The method is highly specific and the results derived can be measured progressively. It is also mostly applicable to clients who are good at introspection and the self analysis thereon is important for both present and future use (Berg,1991). Solution focused therapy Also referred to as brief therapy, this method was developed by De Shaer and Insoo Kim Berg by watching what was happening to families and couples before they got a breakthrough to a problem. This method is a solution building rather than problem soling. In this case, it seeks to obtain a long-term solution unlike the cognitive behavior approach. The method deals with the present and with the future where the therapists invite patients to think of their own preferred future. The therapists use these sessions to obtain the story, the strengths and resources from the client and believe that potential change is constant. They address things that a person wishes to change, those that need to remain unchanged and a vision of the future that a person would prefer. This is displayed through a sequence of miracle questions, exception questions, coping questions, scaling questions time out, accolades and tasks (1992). A miracle questions helps a patient to project into the future and foresee how it will be if the problem is no longer available. It is used to identify goals and is usually asked slowly so as to be clearly understood. The scaling question is used to show important differences in the life of an individual. It is a measure and a person is asked to rate their current state on a scale where it is useful to identify resources, exceptions and preferred future. An exception question seeks to identify what a client does differently and what had good results. It encourages a person to see things differently and know that it is possible again. The coping question encourages curiosity on the part of the therapist and explores unknown places. The problem free talk identifies tools to help a person relax and thus the therapist gains an idea of the strengths, ideas and beliefs of the client. The solution based approach is solution oriented and the therapist changes the language from how a person thinks about the problem of how they think about the solution. The impacts of cognitive behavior therapy and solution focused therapy are large and important. First and foremost the two methods have great results and in the end provide both long term and short term results to the patients. Research Questions Quantitative Research Question Regarding adults ages 18-25 undergoing anxiety disorders, what is the impact of cognitive behavior therapy and solution-focused therapy on reducing their anxiety? The quantitative target size of the population includes convenience sampling of 40 patients suffering from anxiety disorders (Miller,1992). Qualitative Research Question What specific CBT technique and SFT technique was most effective in reducing anxiety for adults ages 18-25? The qualitative target size includes convenience sampling of 10 patients out of the original amount of 40 patients in the population. References Berg, K. (1991). Family Preservation: A Brief Therapy Workbook. London: BT Press. Bouras, n & Holt, G. (2007). Psychiatric and Behavioral Disorders in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities 2nd Ed. Cambridge University Press: UK. Davison, C. (2008). Abnormal Psychology. Toronto: Veronica Visentin. George, E., Iveson, C. & Ratner, H. (1999). Problem to Solution: Brief Therapy with Individuals and Families. London: BT Press. Guilford, F. (2001). Solution-Focused Recovery from Eating Distress. London: BT Press. Hoyt, M. . (1984). Single session solutions. In Constructive Therapies. New York: Miller, S. (1992). Working with the Problem Drinker: A Solution Focused Approach. New York: Norton. Shazer , S. (1985). Keys to Solution in Brief Therapy. New York: Norton. Read More