ACT with Anxiety Disorders

Abstract

Anxiety disorders are the most commonly experienced mental health problems in the United States. Narrow, Rae, Robins, and Regier (2002), combining data from the National Institute of Mental Health Epidemiologic Catchment Area Program (ECA) and the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS), conservatively estimated the one-year prevalence for any anxiety disorder to be 13.1% for adults aged 18–54. These conditions tend to be chronic. Three year remission rates range from 16 to 23% for social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, and panic disorder with agoraphobia (Keller, 2000, in Barlow, 2002). In one longitudinal study, within the first 22 months following the onset of an episode, only 18% of individuals diagnosed with panic disorder and agoraphobia and about 43% of those with panic disorder without agoraphobia had recovered in comparison to approximately 80% of those with major depressive disorder (Hirschfeld, 1996). Functional status of patients with anxiety disorders is diminished as evidenced by higher rates of financial dependence, unemployment (e.g., Leon, Portera and Weissman, 1995), poorer quality of life (Massion, Warshaw, & Keller, 1993), and increased risk for completed suicide (Allgulander, 1994).