Case Reports on Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Generalized anxiety disorder affects anywhere from 3 to 5 percent of the adult population, and it can develop in individuals as early as childhood and adolescence. Case reports, also known as case studies, serve a variety of functions in the treatment of generalized anxiety, including helping to identify causes of and effective therapy for the disorder.

Description

• A case report or study for generalized anxiety disorder will record detailed biographical and background information about a patient, exploring as well his personality, maturation, adaptation and presenting problems and reasons for therapy.

Function

• In addition, a case report or study will give a detailed account of an individual patient's experiences in therapy. These accounts can help to disconfirm previously proven hypotheses or to suggest new hypotheses regarding generalized anxiety disorder.

Treatments

• Case reports or studies can also help to highlight treatments that have been effective for individual patients. For example, a case report by Hagen Rampes and Jonathan Davidson showed that electroacupuncture successfully diminished generalized anxiety disorder in a 33-year-old woman.

Causes

• Moreover, case reports or studies can provide insight into the etiology of generalized anxiety disorder. For example, multiple case studies of twins have shown that both genetic and environmental factors contribute to the development of generalized anxiety disorder.

Limitations

• While case reports or studies can provide valuable information regarding generalized anxiety disorder, they lack the necessary evidence to substantiate new hypotheses. They also reflect the theoretical paradigm or bias of the observing clinician.