Archive for February, 2006

Listed by most recent articles first.

• How Do I Know If It Is Panic Disorder?
  There are more than a dozen physical or emotional sensations that a person can experience during a panic attack. Not everyone experiences all of them, and people with panic disorder may report different feelings when ...
• What Is Panic Disorder?
  More than three million Americans will experience panic disorder during their lifetime, and there is no typical victim. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, panic disorder can begin during childhood or ...
• The Impact of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
  How common is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)? Until recently, OCD was considered a rare ailment. Findings from a large survey suggest that 2 to 3 percent of the population (roughly five million Americans) may suffer from OCD ...
• Medications for Obsessive-compulsive Disorder
  The modern era in the pharmacotherapy of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) began in the late 1960s with the observation that clomipramine, not other tricyclic antidepressants such as imipramine (Tofranil), was effective in treating OCD. Clomipramine is ...
• Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders
  Some conditions have been referred to as Obsessive-compulsive (OC) spectrum disorders on the basis of clinical similarities to OCD (i.e., recurrent disturbing ideas and/or irresistible urges), higher than expected co-occurrence with OCD and favorable response ...
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Children and Adolescents
  Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) usually begins in adolescence or young adulthood and is seen in as many as one in 200 children and adolescents. OCD is characterized by recurrent obsessions and/or compulsions that are intense enough ...
• The Course of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
  OCD can be relentless. If untreated, OCD is usually chronic and follows a waxing and waning course. That is, symptoms may get somewhat better for months or even years, only to get worse again before ...
• Treatments for Obsessive-compulsive Disorder
  Before the late 1960s, OCD was generally considered unresponsive to a range of conventional therapies. Traditional talk therapy based on psychoanalytic principles was rarely successful in reducing the severity of obsessions or compulsions. Understanding and ...
• How Do I Know If I Have Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?
  There is no reliable diagnostic test for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The diagnosis is usually based on a thorough face-to-face interview conducted by an experienced mental health professional. Perhaps someday, as we learn more about the ...
• What Is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?
  Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an illness that affects thoughts and actions and is believed to be rooted in a biochemical imbalance of the brain. OCD is classified as an anxiety disorder in the Diagnostic and ...
• Distinguishing OCD From Other Conditions
  Much of the confusion in the professional and lay literature regarding the differences between OCD and other conditions stems from the many different uses of the words obsession and compulsion. To be true symptoms of ...
• What Causes Generalized Anxiety Disorder?
  While great strides have been made in treatment of GAD, the actual cause for the disorder is not known. Research is now focused on better understanding how brain areas that process fear operate. In other ...
• Normal Worry versus Generalized Anxiety Disorder
  People with GAD are the worry experts. It’s not uncommon for people with the disorder to assume that they are locked into daily uncontrollable worry. Untreated, these individuals learn to compensate in other ways, often ...
• Frequently Asked Questions about Generalized Anxiety Disorder
  How common is Generalized Anxiety Disorder? Approximately 5 percent of people will develop Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) during their lifetime. It appears that some people are genetically predisposed to developing the disorder. Women are more likely to ...
• Symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder
  There are many common symptoms and signs of generalized anxiety disorder. Generalized anxiety disorder is one of the most commonly diagnosed anxiety disorder. It is characterized by a general anxiety or worry about life, with ...
• What Is Generalized Anxiety Disorder?
  The key feature of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is excessive worry. Everyone worries to some degree at some point about something in their lives. However, the worry experienced by individuals with GAD is clearly out of ...
• Problems Related to Social Phobia
  Some people may have a difficult time believing that social phobia is a disease and not simply one of many personality types. "Since when has shyness become something you see a doctor about?" people might ...
• Frequently Asked Questions about Social Phobia
  How serious is social phobia? The impact varies with the individual. For some, social anxiety is limited to a very specific kind of performance, such as giving a speech or playing a musical instrument for an ...
• Shyness and Social Phobia in Children
  People with social phobia say they want social interaction, but avoid social activity because of their extreme emotional distress. Such anxiety is triggered by the fear that others may scrutinize them and that they may ...
• Treatments for Social Phobia
  As social phobia is considered to be a long-lasting chronic disorder, ongoing treatment generally is needed. Treatment often consists of a combination of medication and talk therapy. Medications In recent years, clinical trials have been conducted to ...
• How Do I Know If I Have Social Phobia?
  Most people suffer from shyness or anxiety at some point in their lives, but are such feelings so pervasive as to constitute a diagnosis of social phobia? Here are a few quick questions that can ...
• What is Social Phobia?
  People with social phobia (also known as social anxiety disorder) have an extreme fear of situations where they may be under the scrutiny of others. They worry that they will not measure up. Exposure to social ...
• What Causes Bipolar Disorder?
  The cause of bipolar disorder is not entirely known. Genetic, neurochemical and environmental factors probably interact at many levels to play a role in the onset and progression of bipolar disorder. The current thinking is ...
• Phases and Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder
  There are a number of common types of phases that most people with bipolar disorder experience to one degree or another. The most commonly experienced type of bipolar disorder is one where the individual cycles ...
• Mood Stabilizers for Bipolar Disorder
  Mood stabilizers, described below, are highly effective in stabilizing and maintaining a remission of manic symptoms. Lithium Lithium was first regularly used in the United States to manage bipolar disorder in 1970. People who have previously taken ...