Free-Reprint Article Written by: Steve B. Reed See Terms of Reprint Below.
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Physicians are likely to see between 2.8% and 8.5% of their patients suffering from this type of anxiety, according to a national survey (1). Additional Article Information: =============================== 869 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line Distribution Date and Time: 2006-07-19 10:48:00 Written By: Steve B. Reed Copyright: 2006 Contact Email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Steve B. Reed's Picture URL: http://www.psychotherapy-center.com/images/new-steve-index.jpg For more free-reprint articles by Steve B. Reed, please visit: http://thePhantomWriters.com/free_content/d/index.shtml#Steve_B._Reed ============================================= Special Notice For Publishers and Webmasters: ============================================= TEXT Copy-and-Paste and HTML Copy-and-Paste Versions Of Article Are Available at: http://thePhantomWriters.com/free_content/db/r/is-anxiety-a-problem-for-you.shtml#get_code If you use this article on your website or in your ezine, We Want To Know About It. Use the following URL to let us know where you have used this article, and we will include a link to your website on thePhantomWriters.com: http://thephantomwriters.com/notify.php?id=3184&p=load --------------------------------------------------------------------- Anxiety -- Is It a Problem for You? 7 questions provide the answer Copyright © 2006 Steve B. Reed Psychotherapy Center http://www.psychotherapy-center.com Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is "one of the most common anxiety problems seen in general medical practices." Physicians are likely to see between 2.8% and 8.5% of their patients suffering from this type of anxiety, according to a national survey (1). Fortunately, this is just the type of problem that many of the new advances in psychotherapy (such as the REMAP process, EFT and EMDR) are excellent at treating. Yet too often, anxiety related issues are neither diagnosed nor treated. What's been missing, until now, is a simple and easily available way to spot the symptoms and level of intensity that warrants a referral for treatment. The solution to this problem now appears to be at hand. Robert L. Spitzer, MD (and colleagues) report on their development of a new, quick and effective tool to measure anxiety in the May 22, 2006 edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine (2). The anxiety inventory is called the GAD-7 (the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 questions). The researchers conclude that the "GAD-7 is a valid and efficient tool" to screen for anxiety and to assess "its severity in clinical practice and research." What's most impressive is that you can do this by answering seven short questions. All the patient needs to do is read the seven questions and pick one of four possible answers. Each question has a number value (0-3). Add the numbers and you quickly arrive at a score between 0 and 21. The researchers find that a score of 10 or higher means that a significant level of anxiety is present. Scores over 15 are considered severe. In the study they find that people diagnosed with GAD have an average score of 14.4 while people without GAD average only 4.9. Their study also points out the effect on people's lives when they suffer from this level of anxiety. During a three month period, 47% of the people who scored in the highest anxiety category suffered difficulties as a result of their symptoms. They also had twice the number of physician visits and took over four times the number of sick days from work. The complete details from that portion of the study are listed below. Group averages during 3 months: anxiety score - disability days - physician visits - % of symptom related difficulty 0-4 3.9 1.2 15.0 5-9 7.9 1.7 5.5 10-14 10.7 2.2 13.7 15-21 16.8 2.4 47.4 Percent of symptom related difficulty refers to the response to one additional question-- "How difficult have these problems made it for you to do your work, take care of things at home or get along with other people?" (Not at all; Somewhat difficult; Very difficult or Extremely difficult) Notably, 96% of patients in the study with GAD-7 scores of 10 or greater have been experiencing symptoms for a month or more. And, 67% have been suffering from symptoms for 6 months or longer. This suggests that many people are not being diagnosed or getting treatment. This tool may help physicians to make appropriate referrals for mental health care and help psychotherapists to be alert to the need to focus treatment on this issue. A number of patients with symptoms of high anxiety (according to the GAD-7) score low on depression symptoms. This suggests that the dimensions of anxiety and depression need to be assessed separately because they do not always coexist. The authors also point-out that as the symptoms of anxiety increase in severity, patients have correspondingly greater "impairment in multiple domains of functioning". The authors believe that the GAD-7 can help identify patients with "disabling anxiety" that will benefit from treatment. The GAD-7 (developed by Dr. Robert L. Spitzer, Dr. K. Kroenke, and colleagues2) provides a reliable brief scale to identify Generalized Anxiety Disorder and to measure the severity of its symptoms. It can help psychotherapists, physicians and even potential patients to know if further assessment and possible treatment is needed. By now you are probably wondering, "What are these 7 revealing questions?" Okay, let's look at them and see how you score. Read each question and think about how often you have felt bothered by these symptoms during the past two weeks. There are four possible choices: 0 = not at all, 1 = several days, 2 = more than half the days, and 3 = nearly everyday. Write down the number that corresponds to the best answer for each. 1. Feeling nervous, anxious, or on edge? 2. Not being able to stop or control worrying? 3. Worrying too much about different things? 4. Trouble relaxing? 5. Being so restless that it is hard to sit still? 6. Becoming easily annoyed or irritable? 7. Feeling afraid as if something awful might happen? Scoring: Add the results for each question to get a total score. Scores above 10 indicate that you may need to consult a licensed mental health care provider for further assessment and possible treatment for generalized anxiety disorder. REFERENCES: 1. Wittchen HU, Zhao S, Kessler RC, Eaton WW. DSM-III-R generalized anxiety disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1994;51:355-364. 2. Spitzer RL, Kroenke K, Williams JB, Lowe B. A Brief Measure for Assessing Generalized Anxiety Disorder: The GAD-7. [Journal Article] Arch Intern Med. 2006;166(10):1092-7. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Steve B. Reed, LPC, LMSW, LMFT is a psychotherapist that specializes in treating trauma and anxiety disorders including social phobia. He treats people at his Richardson, Texas office (Dallas area) and through phone counseling worldwide. You can reach Steve at 972-997-9955 or through his website at: http://www.psychotherapy-center.com copyright 1998-2006, Steve B. 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