Anxiety is the most common mental disorder experienced by older adults. Anxiety Disorders affect over 18 percent of people over the age of 60. As many as 7 percent of this age group have Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), a disorder characterized by uncontrollable worries about everyday things. Despite its prevalence, Anxiety Disorders remain one of the most undiagnosed and undertreated conditions in this age group. This is due to the failure of the current model of the primary care physician as gatekeeper model.
London, UK -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/04/2013 -- ASAD takes a dreadful toll on a person’s life and on the lives of those around them. For the person with ASAD the recurring distress, worrying, fear and sleep disturbances make every day a confusing and torturous experience. For those who are the “subject of attachment” the spouse, friend, parent, etc the continual clinginess, neediness, and drama of life with a person with ASAD can be almost more than one can take.
ASAD is extremely hard on relationships. Many people cannot handle such neediness in a partner. As noted above, people with ASAD are much more likely not to have been married or to be divorced or separated. ASAD is often linked to personal and social impairment. As noted above, ASAD is associated with roughly doubling of the odds that a sufferer will have low (0–12 years) education, be unemployed, and be unmarried or experiencing marital disruption. This is consistent with the findings of several studies that ASAD can be seriously damaging to one’s life.
The following table shows the personal and social impairment experienced by people with ASAD:
Any personal and social impairment: 56.1 percent
Severe personal and social impairment: 21.1 percent
Work
Any personal and social impairment: 51.6 percent
Severe personal and social impairment: 21.7 percent
Personal relationships
Any personal and social impairment: 66.6 percent
Severe personal and social impairment: 28.0 percent
Social relationships
Any personal and social impairment: 66.4 percent
Severe personal and social impairment: 31.5 percent
Maximum impaired performance in any role area
Any personal and social impairment: 73.4 percent
Severe personal and social impairment: 45.0 percent
ASAD often occurs along with other psychiatric conditions, especially other Anxiety Disorders or mood disorders. Research findings indicate that up to 91.1 percent of people with ASAD could be classified as meeting the criteria for at least one other mental disorder. A significant proportion of people with Anxiety Disorders tend to relapse, or remain significantly symptomatic, despite improvements in medications and psychiatric therapy. Theorists have proposed that untreated attachment anxieties and Separation Anxiety Disorder occurring along with other mental disorders contribute to the ineffectiveness of treatment. In other words, if co-occurring ASAD is untreated, it tends to cause the treatment to be ineffective or fail entirely.
The following table lists the most common co-occurring mental disorders that appear with ASAD:
Anxiety Disorders
Panic Disorder: 14.8 percent
Agoraphobia without Panic Disorder: 5.8 percent
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): 16.1 percent
Specific phobias: 35.8 percent
Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD or Social Phobia): 34.5 percent
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): 23.7 percent
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): 9.9 percent
Any other Anxiety Disorder: 65.6 percent
Mood Disorders
Major depressive disorders: 40.8 percent
Dysthymia: 8.9 percent
Bipolar disorder: 19.4 percent
Any mood disorder: 61.7 percent
Substance Abuse
Alcohol abuse: 33.1 percent
Alcohol dependence: 20.1 percent
Drug abuse: 22.5 percent
Drug dependence: 12.6 percent
Any substance abuse disorder: 35.9 percent. Everybody has some symptoms of ASAD from time to time, especially in dire circumstances such as a prolonged separation or a death. There are also some cultures where what might be called “symptoms” are the norm. Research is ongoing to determine what is “normal” and what is not. The full reference articles take this subject up in detail.
The effects of ASAD in a person’s life have barely been studied. As might be expected due to the newness of the diagnosis, none of the studies of the effects of mental disorders include ASAD. But the warping of a person’s life and those about them by ASAD is very real and very painful.
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