I am replying to a pee’s post on Pediatric and Adolescent Anxiety

NU-664C-02-23PCS3 FamilyPsychiatric Ment.Hlth I

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4. Week 11: Anxiety Disorders
5. Week 11: Group-Facilitated Discussion 1 – Group 2

Week 11: Group-Facilitated Discussion 1 – Group 2

To do: Make forum posts: 1

Value: 100 points

Due: Facilitating group to post by Day 1; all other students post to facilitating group discussion prompt by Day 4 and reply to at least two other peer posts by Day 7

Grading Category: Group Facilitated Discussions

Initial Post: Created by Facilitating Group

This is a student-led discussion.

• Please review the Week 7 Get Started: Group-Facilitated Communication Board and Instructions for assignment guidelines for this discussion to ensure that you have met all the criteria.
• The facilitating group should choose one member from their group who will be responsible for the initial post.
• On Day 1 of this week, the chosen group member will create an initial post that is to include the group’s discussion prompts, resources, and the instructions for what your classmates are to do with the resources.
• During this week, each member of your group is to participate in the facilitation of the discussion. This means making certain that everyone is engaged, questions from students are being answered, and the discussion is expanding.
• It is the expectation that the facilitating group will address all initial peer response posts by Day 7.

Reply Posts: Non-Facilitating Students

• If you are not a member of the facilitating group, you are to post a discussion prompt response according to the facilitating group’s instructions by Day 4. Your reply posts should include substantive reflection directed to the presenters.
• You are also expected to respond to at least two other peers’ initial discussion prompt posts.
• Pick out an idea from your peers’ initial post that you find most interesting and tell how you will use this information in practice.

Please refer to the Grading Rubric for details on how this activity will be graded. The described expectations meet the passing level of 80%. Students are directed to review the Discussion Grading Rubric for criteria which exceed expectations.   

This is my peer’s post

Re: Week 11: Group-Facilitated Discussion 1 – Group 2

by Cindy Faraguna – Monday, 10 July 2023, 8:53 PM

Thank you group 2 for an informative discussion. I appreciate the references and videos. I did like the Ted Talk about cognitive behavior therapy and exposure therapy. I was not familiar with exposure therapy before this discussion. I did learn a lot from this post about exposure therapy.How does Anxiety show the mind-body connection?Children and adolescents can have a difficult time understanding and explaining their anxiety. The most common symptom reported in children and adolescents with anxiety is headaches and stomachaches. How does one differentiate a headache and/or stomachache caused by anxiety versus other root causes? The frequency might be the first clue and a pattern when the onset of a headache and stomachache occurs. Kids will experience a headache and stomachache sometimes, but a child with anxiety may experience it more often (Miller, 2023). In addition to the frequency, it may occur surrounding specific events like going to school or a party (Miller, 2023). When the body experiences anxiety, the body ignites a stress response. The stress response will release stress hormones such as cortisol, adrenaline, and noradrenaline (APA, 2023). These stress hormones will trigger physiological reactions such as muscle tension, shortness of breath, elevated heart rate, headaches, and gastrointestinal discomfort to list a few (APA, 2023). The mind-body connection is constantly working together. It is important to support both the psychological and physiological symptoms of anxiety to prevent chronic conditions from occurring.Choose some non-pharmacological and pharmacological methods and discuss how they impact the physiological response to anxiety to relieve symptoms in the children and adolescent population.I would recommend cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) as the non-pharmacological method of treatment to relieve symptoms caused by anxiety. CBT is a first-line intervention for anxiety disorders (Curtiss et al., 2021). CBT will provide an approach to target excessive stress and worry-triggering anxiety; therefore, reducing the body’s stress response (Curtiss et al., 2021). CBT is crucial in treating anxiety in children and adolescents due to the nature of poor emotional management and left untreated can become problematic (Borza, 2017). The patient’s emotional state of mind causes hyperactivation of the hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis commonly known as the body’s stress response; therefore, resulting in a sympathetic nervous response causing physiological symptoms (Hinds & Sanchez, 2022). CBT will provide guidance and teach coping skills to help calm the mind and reduce the body’s stress response.Pharmacological treatment has been shown to be most beneficial in conjunction with CBT. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the recommended first class of medication to treat anxiety in children (Miller, 2022). The most commonly used SSRs prescribed to treat anxiety for children are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) but are considered “off-label use” (Miller, 2022). I would discuss with the parents and child/adolescent about prescribing sertraline (Zoloft). I would prescribe sertraline 5mg by mouth daily for a week and reassess the patient to stay at 5mg, increase to 10 mg or find another alternative if adverse effects occur (Stahl, 2018). Sertraline is “off-label” use but is FDA-approved to treat children starting at age 6 years old for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) (Stahl, 2018). This gives me comfort that sertraline has been tested safe for children 6 years old and up. Sertraline blocks the reabsorption of the hormone and the neurotransmitter serotonin which allows serotonin to stay in the brain for longer; therefore, make’s one feel more uplifted and calms the mind (Health Match, 2022).Discuss the long-term implications of untreated anxiety.Untreated anxiety can lead to unfavorable consequences. A few negative outcomes from not treating anxiety are poor focus and concentration, poor academic performance, trouble sleeping, headaches, and clingy to parents, which can lead to severe anxiety disorders in adulthood (Boorady, 2023). Anxiety disorders left untreated among youths tend to have a chronic and unremitting course, persisting into adulthood. Adolescents with anxiety disorders are at an increased risk for later anxiety disorders, depression, and substance dependence, and impede academic growth as young adults (Chiu et al., 2016).Aside from cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure therapy is another technique for treating anxiety. As this can be a scary technique to use in those suffering from anxiety, how will you help parents and children understand this intervention?Educating the parents and child about exposure therapy is important and can help the transition go smoothly understanding the end goal. The goal is to decrease the fear that triggers the anxiety. This can be an object, situation, place, or activity. I would ensure the parents and child the environment in which the child will be exposed to his/her stressor is controlled and safe (APA, 2017). This type of therapy has shown to be an effective and helpful form of treatment for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and phobias (APA, 2017).ReferencesAmerican Psychological Association. (2017). What is exposure therapy? American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/patients-and-families/exposure-therapy#:~:text=In%20this%20form%20of%20therapy,reduce%20fear%20and%20decrease%20avoidance.American Psychological Association. (2023, March 8). Stress effects on the body. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/topics/stress/bodyBoorady, R. (2023, April 14). Why childhood anxiety often goes undetected (and the consequences). Child Mind Institute. https://childmind.org/article/detecting-childhood-anxiety/Borza, L. (2017). Cognitive-behavioral therapy for generalized anxiety. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 19(2), 203–208. https://doi.org/10.31887/dcns.2017.19.2/lborzaChiu, A., Falk, A., & Walkup, J. T. (2016). Anxiety disorders among children and adolescents. FOCUS, 14(1), 26–33. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.focus.20150029Curtiss, J. E., Levine, D. S., Ander, I., & Baker, A. W. (2021). Cognitive-behavioral treatments for anxiety and stress-related disorders. FOCUS, 19(2), 184–189. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.focus.20200045Health Match. (2022, March 22). Zoloft for anxiety: What you need to know. https://healthmatch.io/anxiety/zoloft-for-anxietyHinds, J. A., & Sanchez, E. R. (2022). The role of the hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis in test-induced anxiety: Assessments, physiological responses, and molecular details. Stresses, 2(1), 146–155. https://doi.org/10.3390/stresses2010011Miller, C. (2022, June 29). Guide to medications for anxiety in children. Child Mind Institute. https://childmind.org/article/medications-for-anxiety-in-children/#:~:text=Antidepressants%20called%20SSRIs%20(selective%20serotonin,for%20treating%20anxiety%20in%20children.Miller, C. (2023, May 4). Anxious stomach aches and headaches. Child Mind Institute. https://childmind.org/article/anxious-stomach-aches-and-headaches/Stahl, S. M. (2018). Prescriber’s Guide, Children and Adolescents Stahl’s essential psychopharmacology (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press.

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