Case Diagnosis General Anxiety Disorder

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Case Diagnosis: A Study of General Anxiety Disorder Abstract Although General Anxiety Disorder (GAD) affects both men and women, women seem especially susceptible to this disorder. As more women have entered the work force in the past quarter of a century, their work load has grown extensively. Some have called it the second shift where women work all day outside of the home and then return home to still carry out the responsibilities of the household most times without any assistance. Stress has been identified as the precursor to many physical as well as mental ailments including GAD. Women must learn new coping strategies if they are to combat anxiety that is most often stress induced. Case Diagnosis: A Study of General Anxiety Disorder In this case study we will examine Susanna, a 42 year old heterosexual female from Yonkers, NY. She reports feeling overwhelmed and anxious on a daily basis and is seeking help to be able to cope with the daily stressors in her life. In addition to a structured clinical interview, The Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire (GADQ) (Roemer, Borkovec Posa, & Borkovec, 1995) and its revised version (GADQ-IV) (Newman, et al. , 2002) is a good self-report measurement to use to assess the presence of DSM-IV criteria for GAD (Craighead, Miklowitz, & Craighead, 2008). Environmental Factors Susanna is happily married for 16 years and has 2 children, a boy who is age 12 and a girl age 8. She has a very demanding job as a vice principal of a middle school on the lower east side of Manhattan. Her daily commute is by subway and during regular rush hours it takes her approximately one hour to get to work. She has to leave home at 6:30 am to arrive at school before the opening bell rings at 7:55 am and to prepare for the day ahead. As such, she wakes up at 5:00
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