GENERALISED ANXIETY DISORDER
THE NATURE OF WORRY Worrying is both a normal phenomenon and an activity which occurs in association with a wide range of emotional disorders. The worries of GAD patients closely…
ASSESSMENT: AN OVERVIEW
AIMS OF ASSESSMENT Several aims are served by assessment: identification of problems; elicitation of information for case conceptualisation; determination of past and present level of patient functioning; monitoring treatment outcome….
SOCIAL PHOBIA
THE NATURE OF SOCIAL PHOBIA Social phobia is defined in DSM-IV as a ‘marked and persistent fear of social or performance situations in which embarrassment may occur’ (p. 411). For…
PANIC DISORDER
CHARACTERISTICS OF PANIC ATTACKS Panic attacks are defined as rapid occurrences of anxiety or rapid escalations in current anxiety in which there are at least 4 of 13 somatic or…
OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER
PREVALENCE OF OBSESSIONS AND COMPULSIONS Obsessions and compulsions occur as normal phenomena, differentiated from their OCD counterparts by the distress or disruption they cause. Normal obsessions occur in 80–88 per…
HYPOCHONDRIASIS: HEALTH ANXIETY
A COGNITIVE MODEL OF HYPOCHONDRIASIS The main tenant of the cognitive model is that the disorder results from, and is maintained by, the misinterpretation of normal bodily signs and symptoms…
COGNITIVE THEORY AND MODELS OF ANXIETY: AN INTRODUCTION
COGNITIVE THEORY OF ANXIETY DISORDERS In anxiety disorder the disturbance in information processing which underlies anxiety vulnerability and anxiety maintenance can be viewed as a preoccupation with or ‘fixation’ on…
COGNITIVE THERAPY: BASIC CHARACTERISTICS
COGNITIVE TECHNIQUES Cognitive therapy is concerned with identifying negative automatic thoughts and dysfunctional appraisals, with the aid of recall, affect shifts, role plays, imagery induction, exposure tasks, diaries, and questionnaires….
