Please review the complete instructions and the attached document ” Generalized Anxiety Disorder: A Middle-Aged Caucasian Man With Anxiety ” to complete the assignment.
Assignment: Assessing and Treating Patients with Anxiety Disorders
Common symptoms of anxiety disorders include chest pains, shortness of breath, and other physical symptoms that may be mistaken for a heart attack or other physical ailment. These manifestations often prompt patients to seek care from their primary care providers or emergency departments. Once it is determined that there is no organic basis for these symptoms, patients are typically referred to a psychiatric mental health practitioner for anxiolytic therapy. For this Assignment, as you examine the patient case study consider how you might assess and treat patients presenting with anxiety disorders.
Instructions – The Assignment: 5 pages
Examine Case Study: A Middle-Aged Caucasian Man With Anxiety. You will be asked to make three decisions concerning the medication to prescribe to this patient. Be sure to consider factors that might impact the patient’s pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes.
** Please address each bullet point for Decision # 1, 2 and 3**
Introduction to the case (1 page)
· Briefly explain and summarize the case for this Assignment. Be sure to include the specific patient factors that may impact your decision making when prescribing medication for this patient.
Decision #1 (1 page)
· Which decision did you select?
· Why did you select this decision? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.
· Why did you not select the other two options provided in the exercise? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.
· What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources (including the primary literature).
· Explain how ethical considerations may impact your treatment plan and communication with patients. Be specific and provide examples.
Decision #2 (1 page)
· Why did you select this decision? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.
· Why did you not select the other two options provided in the exercise? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.
· What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources (including the primary literature).
· Explain how ethical considerations may impact your treatment plan and communication with patients. Be specific and provide examples.
Decision #3 (1 page)
· Why did you select this decision? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.
· Why did you not select the other two options provided in the exercise? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.
· What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources (including the primary literature).
· Explain how ethical considerations may impact your treatment plan and communication with patients. Be specific and provide examples.
Conclusion (1 page)
· Summarize your recommendations on the treatment options you selected for this patient. Be sure to justify your recommendations and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.
Note: Support your rationale with a minimum of five academic resources.
Reminder: The College of Nursing requires that all papers submitted include a title page, introduction, summary, and references.
Gene
r
alized
Anxi
et
y
Disorde
r
Middle
–
Aged White Male
with
Anxiety
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The client is a 46
–
year
–
old white male who works as a welder at a local steel fabricati
on factory. He presents
today after being referred by his PCP after a trip to the emergency room in which he felt he was having a heart
attack. He stated that he felt chest tightness, shortness of breath, and feeling of impending doom. He does
have some mi
ld hypertension (which is treated with low sodium diet) and is about 15 lbs. overweight. He had
his tonsils removed when he was 8 years old, but his medical history since that time has been unremarkable.
Myocardial infarction was ruled out in the ER and hi
s EKG was normal. Remainder of physical exam was WNL.
He admits that he still has problems with tightness in the chest and episodes of shortness of breath
–
he now
terms these “anxiety attacks.” He will also report occasional feelings of impending doom, and
the need to “run”
or “escape” from wherever he is at.
In your office, he confesses to occasional use of ETOH to combat worries about work. He admits to consuming
about 3
–
4 beers/night. Although he is single, he is attempting to care for aging parents in h
is home. He reports
that the management at his place of employment is harsh, and he fears for his job. You administer the HAM
–
A,
which yields a score of 26.
Client has never been on any type of psychotropic medication.
MENTAL STATUS EXAM
The client is al
ert, oriented to person, place, time, and event. He is appropriately dressed. Speech is clear,
coherent, and goal
–
directed. Client’s self
–
reported mood is “bleh” and he does endorse feeling “nervous”.
Affect is somewhat blunted, but does brighten several t
imes throughout the clinical interview. Affect broad.
Client denies visual or auditory hallucinations, no overt delusional or paranoid thought processes readily
apparent. Judgment is grossly intact, as is insight. He denies suicidal or homicidal ideation.
You administer the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM
–
A) which yields a score of 26.
Diagnosis: Generalized anxiety disorder
RESOURCES
§ Hamilton, M. (1959). Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale. Psyctests, doi:1
0
.1037/t02824
-0
Decision Point One
Select what you should do:
Begin Paxil 10 mg po daily
Begin Imipramine 25 mg po BID
Begin Buspirone 10 mg po BID
Decision Point One
Beg Begin Paxil 10 mg po daily 10 mg po daily
RESULTS OF DECISION POINT ONE
·
Client returns to clinic in four weeks
· Client informs you that he has no tightness in chest, or shortness of breath
· Client states that he noticed decreased worries about work over the past 4 or 5 days
· HAM-A score has decreased to 18 (partial response)
Decision Point Two
Select what you should do next:
Increase dose to 20 mg po daily
Increase dose to 40 mg po daily
No change in drug/dose at this time
Decision Point Two
Increase dose to 20 mg po daily
RESULTS OF DECISION POINT TWO
· Client returns to clinic in four weeks
· Client reports an even further reduction in his symptoms
· HAM-A score has now decreased to 10. At this point- continue current dose (61% reduction in symptoms)
Decision Point Three
Select what you should do next:
Maintain current dose
·
Increase to 30 mg po daily
·
Add augmentation agent such as BuSpar (buspirone)
Decision Point Three
Maintain current dose
Guidance to Student
At this point, it may be appropriate to continue client at the current dose. It is clear that the client is having a good response (as evidenced by greater than a 50% reduction in symptoms) and the client is currently not experiencing any side effects, the current dose can be maintained for 12 weeks to evaluate full effect of drug. Increasing drug at this point may yield a further decrease in symptoms, but may also increase the risk of side effects. This is a decision that you should discuss with the client. Nothing in the client’s case tells us that we should consider adding an augmentation agent at this point as the client is demonstrating response to the drug. Avoid polypharmacy unless symptoms cannot be managed by a single drug
Generalized Anxiety Disorde
r
Middle
–
Aged White Male
with
Anxi
et
y
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The client is a 46
–
year
–
old white male who works as a welder at a local steel fabricati
on factory. He presents
today after being referred by his PCP after a trip to the emergency room in which he felt he was having a heart
attack. He stated that he felt chest tightness, shortness of breath, and feeling of impending doom. He does
have some mi
ld hypertension (which is treated with low sodium diet) and is about 15 lbs. overweight. He had
his tonsils removed when he was 8 years old, but his medical history since that time has been unremarkable.
Myocardial infarction was ruled out in the ER and hi
s EKG was normal. Remainder of physical exam was WNL.
He admits that he still has problems with tightness in the chest and episodes of shortness of breath
–
he now
terms these “anxiety attacks.” He will also report occasional feelings of impending doom, and
the need to “run”
or “escape” from wherever he is at.
In your office, he confesses to occasional use of ETOH to combat worries about work. He admits to consuming
about 3
–
4 beers/night. Although he is single, he is attempting to care for aging parents in h
is home. He reports
that the management at his place of employment is harsh, and he fears for his job. You administer the HAM
–
A,
which yields a score of 26.
Client has never been on any type of psychotropic medication.
MENTAL STATUS EXAM
The client is al
ert, oriented to person, place, time, and event. He is appropriately dressed. Speech is clear,
coherent, and goal
–
directed. Client’s self
–
reported mood is “bleh” and he does endorse feeling “nervous”.
Affect is somewhat blunted, but does brighten several t
imes throughout the clinical interview. Affect broad.
Client denies visual or auditory hallucinations, no overt delusional or paranoid thought processes readily
apparent. Judgment is grossly intact, as is insight. He denies suicidal or homicidal ideation.
You administer the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM
–
A) which yields a score of 26.
Diagnosis: Generalized anxiety disorder
RESOURCES
§ Hamilton, M. (1959). Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale. Psyctests, doi:10.1037/t02824
–
0
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Middle-Aged White Male with Anxiety
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The client is a 46-year-old white male who works as a welder at a local steel fabrication factory. He presents
today after being referred by his PCP after a trip to the emergency room in which he felt he was having a heart
attack. He stated that he felt chest tightness, shortness of breath, and feeling of impending doom. He does
have some mild hypertension (which is treated with low sodium diet) and is about 15 lbs. overweight. He had
his tonsils removed when he was 8 years old, but his medical history since that time has been unremarkable.
Myocardial infarction was ruled out in the ER and his EKG was normal. Remainder of physical exam was WNL.
He admits that he still has problems with tightness in the chest and episodes of shortness of breath- he now
terms these “anxiety attacks.” He will also report occasional feelings of impending doom, and the need to “run”
or “escape” from wherever he is at.
In your office, he confesses to occasional use of ETOH to combat worries about work. He admits to consuming
about 3-4 beers/night. Although he is single, he is attempting to care for aging parents in his home. He reports
that the management at his place of employment is harsh, and he fears for his job. You administer the HAM-A,
which yields a score of 26.
Client has never been on any type of psychotropic medication.
MENTAL STATUS EXAM
The client is alert, oriented to person, place, time, and event. He is appropriately dressed. Speech is clear,
coherent, and goal-directed. Client’s self-reported mood is “bleh” and he does endorse feeling “nervous”.
Affect is somewhat blunted, but does brighten several times throughout the clinical interview. Affect broad.
Client denies visual or auditory hallucinations, no overt delusional or paranoid thought processes readily
apparent. Judgment is grossly intact, as is insight. He denies suicidal or homicidal ideation.
You administer the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) which yields a score of 26.
Diagnosis: Generalized anxiety disorder
RESOURCES
§ Hamilton, M. (1959). Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale. Psyctests, doi:10.1037/t02824-0
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