Anxiety Disorders Flashcards
Panic disorder: symptoms, treatment and nursing interventions
Symptoms:
Tachycardia, sweating, shaking, dizziness, nausea, feeling detached for oneself, recurrent unexpected panic attacks
Treatment and nursing interventions:
Enable a supportive and safe environment, and encourage and teach breathing exercises or relaxation methods to use. Educating the patient about potential triggers that can cause it. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are used to reduce severity and the frequency of a panic attack.
Social phobia: symptoms, treatment and nursing interventions
Symptoms:
Intense worry about social interaction, social avoidance, sweating, nausea, increased heart rate
Treatment and nursing interventions:
Help the patient to identify specific fear and situations that can trigger the anxiety. Discuss a care plan to encourage goals for the patient to improve social skills to enhance overall wellbeing. Gradually expose the patient to a feared social situation in a supportive and safe environment to help them find techniques to reduce their anxiety
Agoraphobia: symptoms, treatment and nursing interventions
Symptoms:
Breathlessness, sweating, nausea, choking sensation, extreme fear
Treatment and nursing interventions:
Create a safe and supportive space for the patient to express their concerns and fears. Encourage exposure therapy in a controlled environment if it is deemed appropriate. Discuss potential situations or places that could be a trigger.
Specific phobia: symptoms, treatment and nursing interventions
Symptoms:
Nausea, dizziness, shaking, avoidance, difficulty preforming daily activities
Treatment and nursing interventions:
Acknowledge and validate the patient’s fear and reassure them, promote relaxation techniques, Implement cognitive behavioural therapy to teach coping mechanisms and develop different strategies to manage and reduce anxiety
Adjustment disorder: symptoms, treatment and nursing interventions
Symptoms:
Depressed mood, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, loss of interest or pleasure, withdrawal
Treatment and nursing interventions:
Encourage social interaction with others; support groups, recreational activities. Provide education about the symptoms associated with adjustment disorder and available support.
Acute stress disorder: symptoms, treatment and nursing interventions
Symptoms:
Experiencing recurrent, involuntary and distressing memories, negative mood, memory loss, sleep disturbance
Treatment and nursing interventions:
Create a safe environment for the patient, provide emotional support and be patient and understanding towards them. Encourage the patient to discuss their feelings. Promote self-esteem and recognising the patients strengths.
Post traumatic stress disorder: symptoms, treatment and nursing interventions
Symptoms:
Intrusion symptoms (eg. distressing memories or dreams, flashbacks, intense distress), avoidance of stimuli associated with the event, negative beliefs and emotions, detachment, irritable behaviour
Treatment and nursing interventions:
Encourage the use of breathing or relaxation techniques, when they are anxious. Reassure safety, express that the patient is in a environment that is safe. Provide education to the patient’s family to help them understand how to support the patient and what is PTSD.
Obsessive compulsive disorder: symptoms, treatment and nursing interventions
Symptoms:
Repetitive behaviours; handwashing, or mental acts; counting
Treatment and nursing interventions:
Educate the family about OCD and management strategies, treatment options and medication adherence and emphasize the importance of taking medication. Provide a supportive and patient environment and acknowledge that the patient could be struggling and offer encouragement.
Generalised anxiety: symptoms, treatment and nursing intervention
Symptoms:
Restlessness/feeling on edge, muscle tension
Treatment and nursing interventions:
Encourage self-care, such as regular exercise, a healthy well-balanced diet and adequate sleep. Encourage the use of deep breathing techniques to help manage the anxiety.
Outline the causes (key points and theories) of anxiety disorders
In response to a stressor, a stressor can be an external or internal stimuli that can promote an emotional of physical stress. Exposure to a high level of stress during childhood in response to significant adversity, such as childhood abuse, is associated with an increased stress response later in life.
Panic attack: symptoms and nursing management
Symptoms:
Shortness of breath, chest pain, apprehension, palpitations
Nursing management:
Stay with the person and speak in short, simple and audible sentences, encourage the use of a breathing technique and wait with the person until the panic attack has past.
Hyperventilation: symptoms and nursing management
Symptoms:
Numbness in hands, feet and face, light-headedness, dizziness and problems with vision
Nursing management:
Encourage the use of a breathing technique; slow, deep breathing, provide reassurance and support, create a environment which is calm and quiet.
Identify and discuss the following intervention strategies in relation to anxiety disorders: Therapeutic/interpersonal use of self
Psychoeducation
Relaxation and distraction
Mindfulness
Validation of the experience
Encouraging social support
Trauma informed care
Identify and discuss the following intervention strategies in relation to anxiety disorders:
Cognitive behavioural therapy
Helps to make sense of the consumer’s experience, values, and beliefs, in the context of emotional and behavioural responses
Identify and discuss the following intervention strategies in relation to anxiety disorders:
Anti-depressants
Useful to manage associated mood disorder, do not provide antidepressants as a immediate response
Identify and discuss the following intervention strategies in relation to anxiety disorders:
Mood stabilisers
Useful to damage associated mood disorders, do not provide an immediate response
Identify and discuss the following intervention strategies in relation to anxiety disorders: Anti-anxiolytics
Short term management only, can be sedating and addictive
