by Mike Nichols on August 28, 2008 · 1 comment
Anxiety is the most common mental disorder experienced by older adults.
Anxiety Disorders affect over 18 percent of people over the age of 60. As many as 7 percent of this age group have Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), a disorder characterized by uncontrollable worries about everyday things.
Despite its prevalence, Anxiety Disorders remain one of the most undiagnosed and undertreated conditions in this age group. This is due to the failure of the current model of the primary care physician as gatekeeper model.
Eric J. Lenze, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, says,
Studies have shown that generalized anxiety disorder is more common in the elderly … than depression, which affects about 3 percent of seniors. Surprisingly, there is little research that has been done on this disorder in the elderly.
Due to the lack of evidence, doctors often think that this disorder is rare in the elderly or that it is a normal part of aging, so they don’t diagnose or treat anxiety in their older patients, when, in fact, anxiety is quite common in the elderly and can have a serious impact on quality of life.
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Tagged as:
Agoraphobia,
Anxiety Disorder,
Elderly,
Elders,
GAD - General Anxiety Disorder,
OCD - Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder,
Panic Attacks,
Panic Disorder,
primary care physician,
Psychiatrist,
Psychologist,
PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,
SAD - Social Phobia,
Specific Phobias
It is a universal truth: We all lie to our therapists!
We wouldn’t lie to our auto mechanic about the funny noise under the hood. We wouldn’t lie to our hair stylist about wanting to cover our bald spot.
Then why lie to our therapists, wasting money, time and emotional energy?
There are many reasons, both complex and simple. Click continue to see the top 10!
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Tagged as:
Denial,
Psychiatrist,
Psychologist,
Therapy
There are six basic types of mental health professionals found in the United States, with dozens of variations on these types.
Naturally, this produces a great deal of confusion when it’s time to consult one! Do you go to a counsellor, a psychiatrist, or a psychologist? What are the qualifications of the psychiatric nurse you are assigned to at the clinic? You can get medications from a psychiatrist but no therapy, and therapy from a psychologist and no medications. It can be very frustrating.
The main differences between the types of mental health professions is what kind of treatment they focus on or specialize in, their educational background, and the types of licensing required for their profession. Following is a very brief synopsis of the six main types of mental health professionals you are likely to encounter:
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Tagged as:
Clinical Social Worker,
Licensed Professional Counselor,
Marriage and Family Therapists,
Mental Health Professionals,
Physician,
Psychiatric Nurse,
Psychologist
