Description
Assessing and Treating Patients With Anxiety Disorders
Common symptoms of
To prepare for this Assignment:
- Review this week’s Learning Resources, including the Medication Resources indicated for this week.
- Reflect on the psychopharmacologic treatments you might recommend for the assessment and treatment of patients requiring anxiolytic therapy.
The Assignment: 5 pages
Examine Case Study: A Middle-Aged Caucasian Man With Anxiety. You will be asked to make three decisions concerning the medication to prescribe to this patient. Be sure to consider factors that might impact the patient’s pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes.
At each decision point, you should evaluate all options before selecting your decision and moving throughout the exercise. Before you make your decision, make sure that you have researched each option and that you evaluate the decision that you will select. Be sure to research each option using the primary literature.
Introduction to the case (1 page)
- Briefly explain and summarize the case for this Assignment. Be sure to include the specific patient factors that may impact your decision making when prescribing medication for this patient.
Decision #1 (1 page)
- Which decision did you select?
- Why did you select this decision? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.
- Why did you not select the other two options provided in the exercise? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.
- What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources (including the primary literature).
- Explain how ethical considerations may impact your treatment plan and communication with patients. Be specific and provide examples.
Decision #2 (1 page)
- Why did you select this decision? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.
- Why did you not select the other two options provided in the exercise? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.
- What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources (including the primary literature).
- Explain how ethical considerations may impact your treatment plan and communication with patients. Be specific and provide examples.
Decision #3 (1 page)
- Why did you select this decision? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.
- Why did you not select the other two options provided in the exercise? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.
- What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources (including the primary literature).
- Explain how ethical considerations may impact your treatment plan and communication with patients. Be specific and provide examples.
Conclusion (1 page)
- Summarize your recommendations on the treatment options you selected for this patient. Be sure to justify your recommendations and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.
Note:support your rationale with a minimum of five academic resources. While you may use the course text to support your rationale, it will not count toward the resource requirement. You should be utilizing the primary and secondary literature.
Explanation & Answer
Attached. Please let me know if you have any questions or need revisions.
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Treatment Options for Anxiety Disorder
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Background Information to Case
A 46-year old white male appeared at the emergency following a referral by his primary
care physician for comprehensive. The client does welding at a local fabrication factory.
Recently, he went on a trip, and on coming back, he felt he had a heart attack. The client reported
having chest tightness, shortness of breath, and feelings of impending doom. An objective
assessment showed that the client had mild hypertension and about 7kg overweight. When the
client was 8, his tonsils were removed, and since then, his medical history has been
unremarkable. An examination in the emergency room rules out myocardial infarction. His EKG
and physical exam were within the normal limit.
The client reports having chest tightness and some episodes marked by shortness of
breath which he considers anxiety attacks. He also reports occasions of doom during which he
seeks to run away to “escape” from all that he is set at.
During a further assessment, the client reports occasional use of ETOH to relieve worries
related to his job. He states that the management staff in his workplace are harsh, so he fears for
his job. In a single night, he can take up to four beers. He also lives with his aging parents. When
the patient was assessed using Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), he scored 26,
representing moderate to severe anxiety (Hamilton, 1959). However, he has not been on any
mental medication.
The patient requires immediate treatment to relieve current symptoms. Deciding on the
client’s appropriate medications depends on the HAM-A score, current symptoms, and the
impact of drugs to be used. Some drugs come with adverse side effects over others, while others
have the same therapeutic benefits. Such concerns will influence my decision-making for
addressing the client’s case.
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Decision #1
The patient requires medication to treat anxiety disorder. Therefore, the first decision is
for the patient to ...
