Chronic Illness

Chronic Illness

Introduction

This paper focuses on Chronic Illness. Since, chronic illness is a vast topic and it cannot be discussed entirely so in order to be specific the paper has presented discussion on Anxiety Disorders.

Anxiety is an unpleasant affect accompanied by a myriad of physiologic manifestations (quickened heart beat, gastrointestinal distress, 'butterflies' and diarrhea, a tightening in the chest, tremulousness, sweating, muscle tension) as well as psychological manifestations (a sense of dread and impending danger, of helplessness, of insecurity and uncertainty). Freud's first theory of anxiety mainly drew on the thermodynamic models he had worked on with Breuer, and paid tribute to some contemporary presentations of neurasthenia as he attempted to explain the freshly differentiated symptoms of phobia and agoraphobia. He considered that pathological anxiety, in 'anxiety neurosis' (i.e. agoraphobia and anxious states not directly related to a single object) arose mainly as the result of an excess of sexual energy that had not been disposed of through satisfactory sexual intercourse (Lawyer, 2004).

Types of Anxiety Disorder

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is one of disorders of anxiety. This form of disorder contains several forms of phobias encountered by the individual suffering from anxiety such as, the social phobia, the posttraumatic stress disorder, the agoraphobia, the panic disorder or obsessive compulsive disorder (Falvo, 2005). Generalized anxiety disorder is characterized by a pattern of anxiety that is frequent and persistent in a variety of events or activities. The psychological symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder are chronic and exaggerated anxiety, restlessness, tension and irritability without any particular cause. The symptoms in the later phases of the disorder include tremors, headache, dizziness, agitation, muscle tension, pain or discomfort, abdominal discomfort and enhance sweating. The people suffering from generalized anxiety disorder encounter trouble in concentrating on anything and are often insomniac (Barlow, 2002).

Panic Disorder

Panic disorder is the medical term used to describe a psychiatric condition in which the affected person suffers repeated sudden attacks of terror in the absence of external stimuli that may trigger them. Frequent episodes of terror accompanied by a strong state of anxiety are called panic attacks. The panic disorder is a category of anxiety disorder characterized by unexpected and repeated episodes of intense fear accompanied by physical symptoms that may include chest pain, rapid heartbeat, and shortness of breath, dizziness, anxiety or abdominal discomfort (Falvo, 2005). In panic disorder, the successive episodes of terror are accompanied by significant changes ...