Abnormal Psychology Assignment Paper

Part 1

Panic disorder is a fear one experience as a sudden outburst of fear or a kind of discomfort that may arise suddenly and then elevates up within a few minutes. Abnormal Psychology Assignment Paper

Joe faces this panic disorder upon the taking off from the Miami airport and one of the symptoms portrayed is that he had a difficulty in breathing whereby it is a clear indication of shortness of breath. Upon arrival at their home Joe is seen to have also an unconscious desire to commit suicide as his difficulty in breathing also increases and he tries to stay away from the window to avoid his dread of dying a primary symptom of panic disorder. He faces agoraphobia, which is the pronounced, and disproportionate fear of the plane travel where he experiences also anxiety attacks which makes him have a fear of going outside. The panic disorder in Joe after embarking from the plane had gone up as now and appeared frightened and confused and now he could not breathe and his chest ached whenever he tried to breathe and her wife Florence mistakes it for a heart attack

Joe is facing anxiety attacks as the doctor told him and seeks the help of the family care physician. The physician first examines Joe for any cardiac attacks and rules it out and comes up to a conclusion that Joe is suffering from panic disorder, and is referred to psychologist Dr. Geller. Upon narrating his ordeal, the psychologist employs cognitive and behavioral techniques which at changing Joes faulty interpretations of sympathetic arousal. Joe was trained in relaxation and how to breathe in a relaxing mood and changing his cognitive misinterpretations of panic situations. He was also told how to have a repeated exposure to sensations of panic under controlled conditions not forgetting repeated practice on situations that Joe was apprehensive about and this was done repeatedly and to Joe it helped him treat his panic disorder as later he could not panic when near or travelling in a plane. He now felt that he had regained control over his body and mind.

Part 2

Source #1: Carlbring, P., Westling, B. E., Ljungstrand, P., Ekselius, L., & Andersson, G. (2001). Treatment of panic disorder via the Internet: A randomized trial of a self-help program. Behavior Therapy, 32(4), 751-764.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of Internet-delivered self-help program in the treatment of panic disorder. The study entailed having different therapists interacting with patients via their e-mails. The study was contacted to a total of 500 persons and the study data was collected by the use of a self-administered diagnostic tool. The study employed the use of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview in a shorted. Out of all the participants, only 41 of the 500 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Abnormal Psychology Assignment Paper

Treatment: The study participants were exposed to either treatment through the Internet or to a waiting-list control. The key elements of the treatment that the patients were exposed to included cognitive restructuring, in vivo exposure, psychoeducation, interocetive exposure, breathing retaining, and relapse prevention.

Results: The results of this form of treatment to the patients showed that there was a significant improvement of the patients in all dimensions. From the results, the study seems to provide an evidence for the continued application as well as the development of different self-help programs that are aimed at dealing with panic disorder distributed through the Internet.

Source #2: Woodman, C. L., & Noyes, R. (1994). Panic disorder: treatment with valproate. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry

Objective: the main objective of the research was to look at the effectiveness of using valproate in the treatment of panic disorder.

To meet the objective of the study, valproate was administered in a six-week open clinical trial to twelve patients who were ages between eighteen and sixty-five years. The patients who were involved in the study had previously been diagnosed with panic disorder.

Treatment: Treating the patients who were used in this research started at 500 mg on a daily basis with the dosage administered being increased to the patients based on the clinical response as well as on the side effects of valproate. During the treatment, the clinicians completed a Clinical Global Impressions Scale on a weekly basis as well as involving themselves in filling a Hamilton Rating Scale for anxiety on a weekly basis. A panic attack diary was completed on a weekly basis as well as making a brief inventory of the patients symptoms.

Results: The results of the research registered an improvement in the number of the condition as the involved subjects showed fewer symptoms linked to the disorder.

Source #3: Barlow, D. H., Craske, M. G., Cerny, J. A., & Klosko, J. S. (1989). Behavioral treatment of panic disorder, Behavior Therapy, 20(2), 261-282

Objective: The objective of this research is to present a report of the results of a long-term clinical outcome study testing variations of the behavioral treatments for panic disorder without avoiding agoraphobic.

Method: During the study, the researchers looked at the patients’ exposure to somatic cues that was combined with cognitive therapy and a comparison was made to relaxation therapy that was purposely designed for panic disorder treatment. Additionally, all the treatments were combined ad tested to know their effectiveness to the patients.

Results: On being exposed to the treatments, a total of 85% of the patients were found to be panic free after being exposed to the treatment. Additionally, being exposed to relaxation was found to bring about a reduction in the level of anxiety to patients that led to a reduction in the panic attacks to those who were involved. The results of the study show that the application of behavioral treatment is always effective in the treatment of panic disorder.

Part 3

Summary 1: Carlbring, P., Westling, B. E., Ljungstrand, P., Ekselius, L., & Andersson, G. (2001). Treatment of panic disorder via the Internet: A randomized trial of a self-help program. Behavior Therapy, 32(4), 751-764.

In this article, the author gives an explanation of how the Internet can be used to effectively treat panic disorder to various patients. The author of the article gives an explanation of how the Internet has been used to offer treatment to different patients suffering from the panic disorder. In trying to explain the effectiveness of applying the Internet in treating the disorder, the author gives an analysis of how different individuals were treated using the method and how effective the method was towards the patients.

The author of the article also offers an explanation of how the patients were exposed to cognitive restructuring, psychoeducation, relapse prevention, interocetive exposure and breath retaining in trying to restore the patients to their original state by treating the disorder. In its conclusion, the author states that the use of this particular treatment leads to an improvement in the condition of patients. This led to the author concluding that the Internet was one of the best ways of treating panic disorder.

Summary 2: Woodman, C. L., & Noyes, R. (1994). Panic disorder: treatment with valproate. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry

There are different ways of treating panic disorder with one of the ways being the use of valproate. As such, Woodman gives an explanation of the effectiveness of using valproate in treating panic disorder. In explaining how effective this treatment was to the patients, the author explains how the treatment was exposed to different patients for a period of two weeks before the final conclusion was arrived at. Additionally, the author gives an explanation of how the test was carried to the patients in the organization as well as giving an explanation of how the clinicians participated in making sure that the study objectives was achieved. All the procedures that were taken during the study that were designed to proof the effectiveness of the treatment to the patients have also been highlighted in the article.

In conclusion, the author states that the patients who were exposed to this type of treatment recorded an improvement in the condition after the period of time that was stipulated for the study. As a result of this, the author ends up stating that the application of valproate is always effective in treating patients who were diagnosed with panic disorder.

Summary 3: Barlow, D. H., Craske, M. G., Cerny, J. A., & Klosko, J. S. (1989). Behavioral treatment of panic disorder, Behavior Therapy, 20(2), 261-282

In this article, the authors present facts about the effectiveness of behavioral treatments to patients with panic disorder. In testing the effectiveness of this treatment method, the authors try to give an explanation of how the experiment to test this treatment was designed and how the results were achieved to the patients who were subjected to the study. In its conclusion, the authors presents the results of the study by indicating that a total of eighty-five percent of the patients who were exposed to this type of treatment responded positively as they were found to be free from the condition after they underwent several therapy sections. As such, the authors come out clearly and state that this treatment method is one of the best in treating the condition as a result of the effectiveness that it was found to bring to the patients that were exposed to it. Abnormal Psychology Assignment Paper