Anxiety is a term that employed by psychologists to describe a normal feeling individuals experience with faced with stress, danger or threat. A patient who is newly diagnosed with heart attack may experience anxiety (Thurston, Rewak & Kubzansky, 2013) . In another words, this patient may experience a wide array of negative and positive emotions, including isolation, anxiety, and depression (Dobson & Dozois, 2019 . A broad range of factors such as excessive fear and worry that is difficult to manage characterizes anxiety disorder. Some of the symptoms closely associated with anxiety include possible insomnia, muscle tension, irritability, restlessness, and fatigue. Individuals suffering from anxiety disorder often worry regarding a broad range of things as opposed to one specific issue. When individuals become anxious, they increasingly feel tense, uncomfortable, and upset. Feelings of anxiety, according to Milton (2018) can be a result of a broad range of factors, including death of someone close, major accident, serious illness, relationship breakdown or job loss. Other symptoms closely associated with anxiety disorder include palpitations, intense physical strength, feelings of impending doom, feeling of losing control, needles and pins, dizziness, abdominal stress, nausea, and feeling of choking. Other symptoms encompass feelings of choking, trembling and sweating. If not treated, anxiety disorder can cause a significant disruption and distress to the individual’s life. The nursing practice nurse recognize the importance of understanding the anxiety experienced by patients who have been newly diagnosed with heart attack so that they can find ways of treating anxiety, including ensuring that the health outcome of the patient is improved.
Background
The CBT model of anxiety focuses on how negative biases within a person’s thinking play a critical role in facilitating and promoting anxiety. In anxiety disorder, the predominant bias is the tendency to expect the worst, including assuming the worst is more likely to take place. Moreover, the CBT model places much focus on the tendency of people with anxiety disorder to underestimate their capability and ability to cope with expected concerns or problems that play an integral role in heightening anxiety (Fraire & Ollendick, 2013; Rodebaugh, Holaway & Heimberg, 2004). Individuals suffering from anxiety disorder may employ worry as an effective of solving problems or coping with problems. When individuals start worrying or demonstrating fear, it increasingly creates the illusion that they facing a problem when they are in the actual sense feeling catastrophically. Worry is also perceived as a way of avoiding unwanted thoughts or emotions. However, existing literature (Fraire & Ollendick, 2013; Rodebaugh et al., 2004) has demonstrated that avoiding feelings and thoughts only play an important role in increasing fear among the individuals involved. Studies ( Dobson & Dozois, 2019 ) have shown that major depressive disorder is not caused by any single factor. Scholars have argued out that anxiety disorder is a result of psychological, biological, and genetic influences combined with life stresses. Some researchers ( Fraire & Ollendick, 2013) have argued out that the chemistry in brain is an important factor in major depressive disorder. Specifically, irregularities in specific chemicals in the brain occur in major depressive disorder and other mental illness. Difficult life events, including loss of loved one, money difficulty, and problem relationships appear to contribute to anxiety. To this effect, CBT play an integral role in bringing these feelings and thoughts into awareness.
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Nurses are tasked with the responsibility of improving the patient outcome of individuals suffering from heart attack. Since individual diagnosed with heart attack may experience anxiety, nurses devise treatment plan aimed at assisting the patient overcome anxiety.
Literature Review
Scholars have also identified numerous factors that are believed to cause anxiety disorders. These factors encompass genetic factors, biochemical factors, temperament, learnt response, and stress. Anxiety affects the behavior, feeling of wellbeing, thoughts and activity of a person ( Dobson & Dozois, 2019 ). It is a disorder associated with the brain activity in relation to levels of serotonin and dopamine. The disorder can be triggered by life experiences that are traumatizing as well as daily stressors like poor social isolation (Weinstein, 2014) . The patient presents with syndromes such as feelings of hopelessness, restless and fatigue. During treatment and management of depression, a NP will require developing a treatment plan. The treatment plan aims to address the physical, emotional and social aspects of life of the patient (Weinstein, 2014). The plan includes cognitive therapy, psycho education, narrative therapy, skills training, relaxation strategies and interpersonal therapy.
Management of Anxiety
The behavioral therapy is inclusive of cognitive therapy, interpersonal therapy, exposure, acceptance, commitment and group therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy is the most effective treatment for my problem since it is able to identify the way one thinks as well as act (Dobson & Dozois, 2019) . In particular, CBT has been found useful in people with problems associated with alcohol misuse, sleep problems, eating disorders, phobias, post-traumatic disorder, anxiety, depression, as well as, obsessive-compulsive disorders (Dobson & Dozois, 2019). The therapy concentrates on transforming identifying factors or situations that trigger or prolong depression episodes. The goal of cognitive behavioral therapy is to change negative thoughts in to positive thoughts via a problem solving approach (Weinstein, 2014). On the other hand, interpersonal behavioral therapy can also be used in treating individuals suffering from anxiety. However, CBT has proven to be superior to interpersonal behavior therapy. Unlike CBT, interpersonal behavior therapy does not assist the patient to identify her positive character traits and teach her how to make good use of them in order to attain happiness ( Dobson & Dozois, 2019 ). Interpersonal behavior therapy aims at exploring the personal relationship of the patient with other people . The therapy only helps improve the patient’s relationship with other people promoting better communication therefore addressing problems that contribute to anxiety. Group therapies can also be used in treating individuals suffering from anxiety. However, CBT has proven to be superior to group therapies. Group therapies are mainly suitable for patients with depression since they provide a platform where several patients with depression share experiences providing a support system for each other during treatment (Milton, 2018). Therefore, group therapies may not be effective in treating individuals with anxiety. CBT is the best in this case since it helps in identifying patient’s strengths that can assist in promoting his psychological well-being. On the other hand, group therapies only helps the patients face their daily living challenges positively. It also creates a social platform where the patients can learn to socialize within the circle before expanding to the other world eventually. It is much easier to create a social relationship with people that share experiences.
Limitations and Conclusion
Despite the fact that psycho education can also be used to treat anxiety, it is associated with some limitations. For instance, it is not suitable for individuals who do not how to read and write. Moreover, it does not focus on the strengths of the individual in the healing process. To this effect, CBT is more powerful than psycho education in treating individuals suffering from anxiety. According to CBT, optimistic and positive attitude towards oneself can play a critical role in assisting the individual to attain his or her personal goals (Dobson & Dozois, 2019). On the other hand, psycho education only involves delivery of information offering education on mood disorders. One of the means is the use of delivery of passive material like leaflets, emails and information websites to active multisession and as such, it is suitable for people who are literate. The aim of the psycho education is to provide educative information or feedback following screening tests and this may be helpful if the individual is able to read and write (Milton, 2018). Among the key forms of treatment includes the patient’s ability to understand their condition. An individual needs to learn and possess knowledge of the mood disorder to enable her participate during treatment. The psycho education not only involves the patient but the family therefore calling for my parent participation in attempt to understand my problem. The knowledge will assist the patient’s parents in behavior and lifestyle modification to creating a more conducive environment towards the patient’s recovery and treatment.
Although relaxation strategies can also be used in treating anxiety, it cannot match the strength of CBT. Moreover, relaxation strategies are associated with a broad range of shortcomings. Some of the relaxation strategies include yoga, meditation, deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation and as such, they are not suitable for individual who are incapacitated. Moreover, relaxation strategies fail to focus on the individual’s strengths that can play a critical role in enabling an individual to thrive. CBT place much emphasis on the individual strengths and teach the individual how to make good use of them in order to attain happiness (Holmes, 2002).
A close examination of the therapies described above, CBT is the most effective treatment for my problem since it is able to identify the way one thinks as well as act. CBT assist the patient in his or her attempt to change his or her behaviors and thoughts that contribute to distressing emotions. CBT is based on the assumption that authentic happiness can be attained if individuals make use of their positive character traits or positive personality they are endowed with ( Foa & Rothbaum, 20001 ). CBT assist the patient to identify her positive character traits and teach her how to make good use of them in order to attain happiness. Moreover, CBT argues that optimistic and positive attitude towards oneself can play a critical role in assisting the individual to attain his or her personal goals. Happiness, according to CBT comprise of faith, trust, confidence, hope, optimism, serenity, pride, contentment, and satisfaction. Patient’s values, beliefs, desires, feelings, emotions, and disposition can be managed or controlled to improve his psychological well-being. CBT, as argued out by Dobson and Dozois (2019) assumes that life comprises of a broad range of goals and that people can attain them as long as they have positive attitude and resilience. Borrowing from Seligman (2000), the explanation of human behaviors with respect to dispositions or personality traits, values, beliefs, feelings, moods, and emotions help provide rational and intelligible explanations and interpretation of people’s actions. CBT will assist in identifying patient’s strengths that can assist in promoting his psychological well-being. CBT concentrates on the individual’s strengths that can play a critical role in enabling an individual to thrive.
References
Dobson, K. S., & Dozois, D. J. (Eds.). (2019). Handbook of cognitive-behavioral therapies.
London: Guilford Publications .
Milton, M. (2018). The personal is political: Stories of difference and psychotherapy . London:
Palgrave .
Thurston, R. C., Rewak, M., & Kubzansky, L. D. (2013). An anxious heart: anxiety and the onset
of cardiovascular diseases. Progress in cardiovascular diseases , 55 (6), 524-537.
Weinstein, J. (2014). Mental health : Critical and radical debates in social work. Bristol: Policy Press
Fraire, M. G., & Ollendick, T. H. (2013). Anxiety and oppositional defiant disorder: A
transdiagnostic conceptualization. Clinical Psychology Review , 33(2), 229-240.
