Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T22:11:20.261Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

18 - The unmet need for treatment in panic disorder and social phobia

from Part III - Unmet need: people with specific disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 August 2009

Gavin Andrews
Affiliation:
University of New South Wales, Sydney
Scott Henderson
Affiliation:
Australian National University, Canberra
Get access

Summary

Summary

Effective treatment for anxiety disorders does exist and we have good evidence that symptoms and disability can be significantly reduced for the majority of patients who complete treatment. Furthermore, treatment protocols of randomized controlled trials and the associated patient improvement can be replicated in routine care, given the availability of clinicians with appropriate expertise. However, we can also present evidence that many patients who fail to receive such specialist treatment have a poor long-term outcome when treated in the community. This problem is a serious challenge for mental health services, for these services are unable to offer specialist treatment programs to the majority of individuals in the community who meet diagnostic criteria for an anxiety disorder. But does every individual who meets such criteria require specialist treatment? Data from a community survey and from patients attending a specialist anxiety disorders unit are presented in an attempt to answer the following questions: (1) does the level of disability associated with a diagnosis in the community match the level of disability of patients who reach specialist care?; (2) are different experiences of an anxiety disorder in the general population associated with different levels of disability?; and (3) if we are able to identify different levels of ‘disorder’ and disability, are these levels related to health service utilization and the perceived need for treatment? Answering these questions will provide the first step towards determining whether different levels of care might produce comparable outcomes in individuals with different levels of disorder and disability.

Introduction

Cognitive-behavioral treatments effectively reduce the panic, anxiety and associated avoidance behavior in panic disorder and agoraphobia, as well as the social anxiety and avoidance behavior in social phobia.

Type
Chapter
Information
Unmet Need in Psychiatry
Problems, Resources, Responses
, pp. 277 - 289
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2000

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×