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Week 9 Discussion
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Week 9 Discussion
Question 1
Shyness refers to the state in which one experiences nervousness in the company of other people (Shin & Liberzon, 2010). Nearly every human goes through a situation in their life that makes them feel shy. This feeling of shyness has however been confused social anxiety disorder. People suffering from social anxiety disorder and the people around them usually confuse the disorder with an extreme shyness which leads to the disorder remaining undiagnosed and untreated for quite a long time. There are however marked differences between shyness and social anxiety disorder. In the case of shyness, the feelings and the physical symptoms that characterize nervousness usually subside as one becomes familiar with the situation (Shin & Liberzon, 2010). However, in the case of social anxiety disorder, these feelings and symptoms do not subside with situation familiarity; they may even worsen. The two conditions also differ in the intensity of the feelings that accompany them. The stressful feelings are more intense in social anxiety disorder than shyness (Shin & Liberzon, 2010).
Question 2
In the treatment of specific phobias, exposure therapy has shown to be effective. The treatment is premised on the idea that even though avoidance of feared objects may reduce feelings of fear it can, in the long run, make the fear worse (Wells, 2013). This therapy, therefore, aims at helping patients to confront their fears.

It entails a program which repeatedly exposes the patient to the situations or objects that he/she fears to break the established fear and avoidance pattern (Wells, 2013). With this therapy, only one specific phobia is treated at a time. The result of the exposure therapy is that one learns to manage and relate to his/her thoughts, reactions and feelings and consequently, his/her fear and anxiety reduces.
Question 3
The three terms; worry anxiety, and fear are common in clinical descriptions or diagnostic criteria. The three terms are thus usually confused by many people who use them interchangeably. Worry refers to the feeling of being troubled about potential or actual problems, anxiety conversely refers to the feeling of being troubled about something that might or will happen, while fear is the response to a real or perceived immediate threat (Shin & Liberzon, 2010).
Question 4
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is characterized with worry that makes the disorder look like normal worry and make it stay undiagnosed and untreated for several years (Shin & Liberzon, 2010). The major difference between generalized anxiety disorder and normal worry is in the intensity of the feeling of worry and the level of control of the victims. In a normal worry, the feelings are less intense, and the victim usually feels that they can control and deal with their concerns at some later time while in a generalized anxiety disorder the feelings are so intense that the victim feels that his/her concerns are out of control (Barnhill, 2013).
Question 5
Without looking at the diagnosis in case 5.5, my diagnostic impression was that Logan is suffering from illness anxiety disorder. My diagnostic impression was informed by Logan’s anxiety about having an illness. After looking at the diagnosis in the case, I realized that my diagnostic impression was wrong. While Logan was anxious about having an illness, the symptoms he exhibits do not meet the diagnostic criteria for illness anxiety disorder.

Reference
Barnhill, J. W. (Ed.). (2013). DSM-5® Clinical Cases. American Psychiatric Pub.
Shin, L. M., & Liberzon, I. (2010). The neurocircuitry of fear, stress, and anxiety disorders. Neuropsychopharmacology, 35(1), 169.
Wells, A. (2013). Cognitive therapy of anxiety disorders: A practice manual and conceptual guide. John Wiley & Sons.