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Essay on Generalized Anxiety Disorder

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Rachel is a forty-six year old, African American. Rachel suffers from generalized anxiety disorder. She lives with her two college-age daughters in a dangerous neighborhood on the south side of Chicago. Rachel only leaves the house typically between two and four times a month, usually to get her monthly haircut, gets a few items at the grocery store, or goes see her primary doctor. Whenever she needs something, food or otherwise, she has one of her daughters go do it for her. In the past two years, she has held one job for less than a month. Her daughters help pay household bills when they can, but it’s just not enough. Rachel’s bills are piling up, debt collectors keep calling, and it doesn’t faze her. According to biological …show more content…

105). The other more recent treatment for generalized anxiety disorder is selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).This type of medication became popular due to its ability to regulate serotonin. Also, another reason SSRIs became so popular is because it works for other disorders such as obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, panic attacks, and agoraphobia in lowering symptoms by as much as 80% in over 50% of people taking the medication (Anxiety Disorders; Treatment). According to the socio-cultural model, Rachel is more prone to suffer from anxiety due to three factors. One is her financial situation. Anxiety and depression disorders are more prevalent in people without a stable, decent income which Rachel has not had in over two years. Another factor is race. The percentage of African Americans suffering from anxiety in comparison to Caucasians is nearly doubled. The last factor that places a role in Rachel’s situation according to socio-cultural theorists is gender. Females are twice as likely to develop anxiety as men (Comer, 2011, p. 97). Also, the area or neighborhood that you live in has a great impact on one’s psychological health. Rachel lives in an extremely low to no income neighborhood in a bad area on the south side of Chicago. The crime rate, including theft, rape, and murder, in her neighborhood is one of the top five most dangerous places to live in

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