Psychoanalytic Approach Essay

People diagnosed with panic disorder with agoraphobia may interpret a range of ambiguous events showing a bias for their own bodily sensations, interpreting them in a catastrophic life-threatening manner, making the anxiety heighten. Also it no longer takes into account the medical problems that may have occurred such as minor heart attacks. Another problem with diagnosis is the reliability and validity, it can depend on the clients culture, Britain may diagnose Sarah with panic disorder with agoraphobia but in America the diagnosis may be completely different, this can also refer to Sarah’s culture it does not specify Sarah’s culture or upbringing. It could be considered also that a client or even Sarah may act up to a diagnosis e. g.a client diagnosed with schizophrenia may not actually have the condition, but now after being diagnosed may live up to the diagnoses and display themselves as having a split mind. In the case of Sarah Behaviourist therapy might be used – Behaviour Modification is the process where by the therapist aims to modify Sarah’s behaviour and eliminate the current behavioural responses, which are dysfunctional. This process is based on operant conditioning and aims to build up appropriate behaviour. This process is implemented by a system of reinforcements, either negative or positive. Another technique used in Behaviour Modification is Token Economy; the required behaviour is rewarded with tokens, which can then be exchanged for something the person wants. This particular technique is used with people suffering from anorexia, when they eat a certain amount of food they may be allowed a certain magazine, or item of clothing. This therapy may assist Sarah in beginning to condition her feelings and behaviour to adapt her away from the agoraphobia with panic disorder. In the other respect this therapy may also not be ethical, as it would be required to place Sarah in a scenario in which she feels truly terrifying which could be considered cruel and torturous. The biomedical model of health would define that Sarah is not responsible for her illness and that her mind and body work independently from each other. In the case of Sarah who is suffering from agoraphobia and panic disorder, this indicates that there is a clear link between the mind and body due to Sarah becoming dizzy and panicked suffering with palpitations, when out in an open area. The biomedical model also suggests that treatment is to change the physical state of the body and that only the medical profession can treat the sufferer but in this case; this would be very problematic due to the mind causing the physical illness and the sufferer only being treated for the physical symptoms which would therefore result in a reoccurrence of the illness due to the psychological needs of the Sarah being overlooked, and also the medication that would be prescribed is quite addictive and Sarah may become dependent upon it. Bibliography Harris,E.L.,Noyes,R.,Crowe,R.R.,&Chandry,D.R.(1983)Family study of agoraphobia: Report of pilot study. Archives of General Psychiatry, 40, 1061-1064. Noyes,R., Crowe,R.R., Harris, E.L., Hamra,B.J., McChesney, C.M.,& Chandry, D.R. (1986). Relationships between panic disorder an agoraphobia: A family study. Archives of General Psychiatry, 43, 227-232