Depression And Anxiety

Depression And Anxiety



Depression And Anxiety

Introduction

The patient of depression and anxiety is a 28 years old Caucasian female who is a student and he is also married. The patient stated that she is feeling the depressive symptoms and anxiety. The depressive symptoms which were experienced by the lady were depressed mood from past few years and the shifts of mood occur and regular intervals. She also informed about avolition, insomnia, difficulties in concentration, fatigue and anhedonia. She was also experiencing the panic attacks 3 to 4 times within a week. She also used to experience the fear of more attacks. Other symptoms included increased heart rate, fear of death, increase in heart rate, and fear of losing control, hyperventilation, avoiding the situations of eating out, driving and attending the lecture.

The behavior of avoiding is related to the efforts to avoid the cognitive and physiological responses. It was also evident from the report of the patient that her depressive mood did not allow her to get engage into the rewarding behaviors. Therefore, the activities of eating out and dining were inhibited because they cause an increase in the anxiety. The lady was also not able to motivate herself in those activities which she used to enjoy in the past. Several other behaviours like keeping in touch with the family and walking out with the dogs were not stopped by the anxiogenic behavior. Lastly, the lady also told that she has the fears of illness, burden on family, death and pain.

History

The patient stated that the symptoms of anxiety and depression are present from last 3 to 4 years. She also told that there were two events of her life which became the reason of the onset of these events. The first situation was continuous abdominal stress because the lady had a physical examination and she was found to be suffering from colitis. The second event was her aunt was died due to cancer. The patient also told that she was in a close relationship with her aunt and was present with her on her death. The lady told the physician that she wants to take the treatment because her affective symptoms are getting worse and her responsibilities are also increasing day by day. In the initial phase of the treatment the patient was treated with both pharmacological and psychosocial methods up to a period of 18 weeks. The first part of the treatment consisted of Paroxetine and in the second part of the treatment the patient was given cognitive behavioral treatment that included cognitive restructuring, training of relaxation and the interoceptive exposure (Ruwaard et al. 2010, pp. 387-396).

The patient was also provided with intervention, theory and metaphor which were reliable with the commitment and acceptance (Walser et al. 2013, n.d). This factor was considered as the part of the restructuring phase of cognitive development so that the verbal behavior of the patient can be focused. It is helpful in controlling the exacerbation of the symptoms and controlling the ...