A psychological disorder, also known as a mental disorder is a pattern of specific behavioral or psychological symptoms that impact a person’s life on certain levels and also create distress. A behavior that is considered normal in a certain society can be unacceptable in another culture. Originally, normal or abnormal behaviors are considered to be developed by the forces in a society, the environment, and also family genetics. Some individuals suffer psychological symptoms that allow them to function in society while others experience extreme distressful symptoms limiting an individual’s functioning ability. As a psychologist, I advise that while evaluating or diagnosing a psychological disorder, it is important that you consider the following; frequency, intensity of the symptoms, and duration. Additionally, you should consider the individual’s functionality in the society and family’s psychological background.
Recently, I have been evaluating a patient who is suffering from an anxiety disorder, more specifically, the patient is suffering from a panic disorder. As a psychologist, I consider panic attacks very dangerous for they can happen anywhere which leads to accidents and sometimes death. The patient has developed a panic disorder from frequent panic attacks that last longer than thirty minutes. The patient experienced several panic disorder symptoms such as anticipatory anxiety. Instead of feeling relaxed and settled, he feels anxious and tense with the fear of having a panic attack. The patient has also developed phobic avoidance where he avoids certain environments, situations, and sometimes some people.
In my evaluation, have ruled out the cause of the panic disorder as severe stress. From our sessions, have learned that the patient lost his job recently which brought a negative impact on his life. Anyone can experience job loss, therefore, visit a doctor or a psychologist to help you overcome and fight that stressful moment to prevent the development of psychological disorders. I have prescribed therapy sessions for my patient including cognitive behavioral therapy and also exposure therapy. These therapies are helping my patient to experience physical sensations of panic in a safe and more controlled environment. Medication is temporarily used to control some of the panic disorder symptoms. These medications include antidepressants and also anti-anxiety drugs such as Benzodiazepines.
