Generalized Anxiety Disorder

A Case Observation Report

In partial fulfilment of the requirement

in General Psychology Soc Sci 5
December 3,2018

Submitted to:

Prof. Carmencita Zamora-Gomez

Submitted by:

Danah Mae G. Narsolis

 INTRODUCTION

General Anxiety Disorder or commonly known as GAD is an anxiety disorder

characterized by uncontrollable and excessive worry about activities. According to

WebMD, the most popular source of health information in the US, Generalized Anxiety

Disorder is marked by excessive worry about everyday events. Some stress and worry

are normal and even common part of life but a person who suffers GAD involves worry

that is so excessive that it already interferes with his well-being and functioning.

Based on diagnostic interview data from National Comorbidity Survey

Replication (NCS-R) shows past year prevalence of generalized anxiety disorder

among U.S. adults aged 18 or older. An estimated 2.7% of U.S. adults had generalized

anxiety disorder in the past year. Past year prevalence of generalized anxiety disorder

among adults was higher for females (3.4%) than for males (1.9%). An estimated 5.7%

of U.S. adults experience generalized anxiety disorder at some time in their lives.

GAD affects the psychological capacity of a person and could also lead to

physical symptoms. Among the common symptoms of GAD are excessive ongoing

worry and tension, having an unrealistic view of problems, restlessness or a feeling of

being "edgy", irritability, muscle tension, headaches, sweating, difficulty concentrating,

nausea, the need to go to the bathroom frequently, tiredness, trouble falling or staying

asleep, trembling and being easily startled.

Genetics, brain chemistry and environmental stresses are among the factors

that contribute to a person’s development of GAD.

 SUBJECT PROFILE

PERSONAL INFORMATION

NAME : CHRIS
PRESENT ADDRESS : VILLA ALMAREZ CONDOTEL, VELOSO ST., BO.
OBRERO, DAVAO CITY
PERMANENT ADDRESS : POBLACION, NORALA, SOUTH COTABATO
BIRTHDAY : SEPTEMBER 23,1997
AGE : 21
RELIGION : INDEPENDENT CHURCH OF THE PHILIPPINES
GENDER : FEMALE
HEIGHT : 4’ 11””
WEIGHT : 105.82 LBS
CIVIL STATUS : SINGLE

EDUCATION
TERTIARY University of Southeastern Philippines
Electronics and Communications Engineering
2014-present
SECONDARY Norala National High School (Science Network School)
Class Valedictorian
2011-2015
PRIMARY Norala Central Elementary School
Class Valedictorian
2005-2011
 DISCUSSION

How did I meet the subject?

 When I was in my 3rd year in college, I transferred to an apartment near the

school where we became roommates.

Chris experienced:

 panic attacks at night

 difficulty in sleeping at night

 waiting for her roommates to fall asleep then cries for about an hour (usually

every two weeks)

 excessive sweating when there’s an upcoming exam

 deactivating all her social media accounts

METHOD

This case observation study will be conducted through a weekly interview to the

subject. I scheduled every Monday at around 7 pm for the interview time slot.
 OBSERVATION

Date: October 22,2018

Time: 6:12 PM

Interview with Client:

Danah: Hi Chris, so in this interview, you can express yourself in any language nga

imong gusto or kung asa ka komportable. Uhmm, I want you to be honest sa imong

mga answers. Let’s start?

“Sige sure.”

Danah: Unsa imong gibuhat karung adlawa?

“I went to school dayun nag-study para sa akong exam karung Thursday (para) sa

akong Feedback nga subject.”

Danah: Aaah, ok. Kumusta ang imohang pagtulog? Sayo ka natulog atong Sunday

night?

“I went to sleep around 2 AM, which is my usual sleep schedule jud. Ok raman

akong tulog, wala ko nagdamgo hahaha.”

Danah: Unsa imong nafeel pagmata nimo ganihang buntag? Do you feel alive,

happy or unsa?

“Actually, I feel tired when I woke up this morning. Nagmata ko mga…mga 10 AM

kay 11:30 paman akong klasi”.

“Wait lang inom sa kog tubig, kuhaon nalang pud tika ug water…”

Danah: Sige sige salamat..

-after 5 minutes-

Danah: Sige, naa napud koy pangutana… Sa imong maremember, In the past two

weeks, how often have you felt down, or hopeless?

“Uhmmmm… last week kay mga 3-day straight man to nga I feel kanang kapoy gud.

Dili nako maexplain. Dili man gud sya physical jud nga kapoy, ambot basta mga in-

ana gud…”

Danah:So, kanang wala lang kay gana maglihok2?

“Murag in-ana…”

Danah:Sige, thank you Chris. Salamat kayo sa time nga imong gihatag. Mobalik

napud ko ug interview next Monday. Salamat...

“You’re welcome Dan…”

Date: October 29,2018

Time: 6:17 PM

Conversation with Client’s roommate:

Danah:Day, asa si ate Chris? Wala pa sya nauli?

“Wala pa Day. Ngano man? Nakaingon man to sya magbuhat silag thesis karun.”

Danah:Ay maoba..

“Ngano diay?”

Danah:Wala raman. Naa lang koy tuyo.

“Basin magabin-an pa to.”

Danah:Aaah sagdi nalang.

Date: November 5,2018

Time: 6:23 PM

Conversation with Client’s roommate:

Danah: Day, naa kay unusual nga nabantayan kang Ate Chris karun nga week?

“ Huh naunsa diay sya day?”

Danah: Wala lang, kanang murag panic attacks ba, kanang dugay kayo sya

nakamata… something like that…

“Ay! Katong miagi day ba kay kanang nakamata ko kadlawon mga 3 am kay kaihion

kaayo ko, unya si ate Chris kay wala pa sya katulog. Nangutana ko nganong mata pa

sya, ana sya lisud daw syag tulog.unya nagdamgo daw sya about anang exam nga

bagsak daw sya, nalimot nako sa whole story day basta in-ana man to.”

Danah: Aaaaah sige sige day, salamat day!

“ Naa pud diay to syay giingon day ba nga sige lang daw syag kadamgo ug mga in-

ana unya murag kahilakon pajud to sya.”

Danah:Maoba? Sige day, salamat day.

November 12,2018

Time: 6:40 PM

Interview with Client:

Danah: Chris, kumusta man ka karun?

“Ok lang man ko Dan,”

Danah: Did you experience breakdowns, physical or maskin emotional last week?

“I had trouble sleeping unya nibalik sad akong panic attacks, especially if my exams

are coming. Grabi jud ang academic pressure…”

Danah: What kind of things do you worry about? Bahin sa imong academics?

“Mahadlok man gud ko mafail ang expectations sa akong parents… sa akong relatives

ug sa ubang tawo nga galook-up sa akoa as achiever. I was an achiever in high school,

maskin elementary, dayun pag college? In-ani lang akong makuha? Kanang gikapoy

nagud ko pero kinahanglan jud nako iprove akong self. Dili nako mapakali before and

after exams and I always expect failures in my scores.”

Danah: Okay, thank you for sharing that personal information with me. I want you to

know nga naa rako permi dire para nimo ate Chris…
November 19,2018

Time: 6:37 PM

Interview with Client:

Danah: Hello te, maayong gabie.

“Maayong gabie pud Dan…”

Danah: How are you te? How’s your week?

“Busy lagi kaayo ko last week ug karung mga upcoming weeks Dan because I have

my thesis, unya 76% pa among nabuhat with my groupmates, wala pa pud mi

nahuman sa papers… makastress jud sya…”

Danah: How do you manage to do all these stuff te, plus naa pakay acads nga gina-

atiman… Kompleto pa ba imong meals and sleep?

“Advance planning kung unsaon nako pagmanage sa akong time, as much as possible

I want to stick with what I’ve planned…I’m trying my best kay usualy man gud instead

of magbuhat na ko sa akong buhaton, naay one hour nga magtanga pa ko …

maghuna-huna… before proceeding to the actual work. Sa meals, I don’t usually eat

proper meals, but instead I eat brunch and dinner… sa sleep…I’m still having a hard

time dealing with this matter kay dili jud ko makatarong ug tulog…“

Danah: Kumusta imong academics te? Imong grades?

“Though I am not confident...I have this odd feeling of being hopeful… gamay lang

hinuon nga hope...like katiting lang jud…”

Danah: Why do you find it odd to be hopeful te?

“I don’t know… dili lang sya usual sa akoa kay I always look at the negative side

biya...”
Danah: Kumusta imong relationship sa imong family te? Do you share your

sentiments with them?

“Okay among relationship but I don’t open up to them that much kay layo man gud

sila… hasol kaayo mag sige ug tawag-tawag…”

Danah: Since you went to college te, how often do you contact your parents?

“I just wait for them to call me…It’s usually them who call me first…I don’t initiate

calls unless importante kaayo about school projects…”

Danah: Okay te… Regarding sa imong giingon last meeting nato about your

emotional breakdowns, uhmmm do you feel better now? Did you still experience

breakdowns last week?

“Despite having many subject requirements… So far, last week has been a good

week to me… I have become calmer than I’ve been for the past months… I didn’t

know how I did it, maybe it’s because I’m already learning on how to manage my

anxiety just a little bit…”

Danah: Wow! That’s very good to hear ate Chris. Thank you for sharing your

wonderful time with me… I’m afraid this will be my last interview because I’ll still

have to gather all these and finish my case observation report…. Thank you kaayo

te.

“Awwwweee, you’re always welcome Dan and I’m also happy nga mag share sa

imoha, though it took me a lot of courage to do this but still thank you… You helped

me in some ways…”

“Bye te…”
 CONCLUSION

Anxiety is a very subjective human emotion. Although normal anxiety serves a

helpful and adaptive purpose, it can further turn out to be one of the reason of

tremendous suffering for millions of people.

Chris grew up being the top of her class from her primary to secondary days.

She was used to making everyone proud and being excellent in every endeavor she

encounters. This made a huge impact to herself especially when she went to college.

Chris’ fear of failing the expectations of people around her created a gradual shift

towards her personality. Unconsciously, she was weighed down by academic pressure

that caused her to show symptoms of anxiety.

During the interviews, she was having muscle tensions which involve a brief

tensing of her back and neck. When she opens up about the things she experienced,

she fidgets and sweats excessively. In one of the interviews, she felt weak and tired

even though she did not have any strenuous activity or exercise during the day. These

are one of the apparent physical symptoms of General Anxiety Disorder (GAD).

This case observation report shows that anxiety disorder can be hard to

understand from a non-sufferer’s perspective, it can be even harder to understand as

a sufferer. They may look fine on the outside but deep inside, they’re fighting a raging

battle. The future remains optimistic for those who struggle with anxiety. We are

positive that developments in the treatment of anxiety disorders will continue to bring

hope and relief to the people, and families, affected by this disorder.