Week 5: Anxiolytic Therapy & PTSD Treatment

“I’m no longer at the mercy of my PTSD, and I would not
be here today had I not had the proper diagnosis and treatment. It’s
never too late to seek help.”

—P.K. Philips, PTSD patient

For individuals suffering from posttraumatic
stress disorder (PTSD) and other anxiety disorders, everyday life can be
a constant challenge. Clients requiring anxiolytic therapy may present
with anxiousness, depression, substance abuse issues, and even physical
symptoms related to cardiovascular, respiratory, and gastrointestinal
ailments. As a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, you must be
prepared to address the many needs of individuals seeking treatment for
PTSD and other anxiety disorders.

This week,
as you study anxiolytic therapies and PTSD treatments, you examine the
assessment and treatment of clients with PTSD and other anxiety
disorders. You also explore ethical and legal implications of these
therapies.

Assignment: Assessing and Treating Clients With Anxiety Disorders

Common symptoms of anxiety disorders include
chest pains, shortness of breath, and other physical symptoms that may
be mistaken for a heart attack or other physical ailment. These
manifestations often prompt clients to seek care from their primary care
providers or emergency departments. Once it is determined that there is
no organic basis for these symptoms, clients are typically referred to a
psychiatric mental health practitioner for anxiolytic therapy. For this
Assignment, as you examine the client case study in this week’s
Learning Resources, consider how you might assess and treat clients
presenting with anxiety disorders.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Assess client factors and history to develop personalized plans of anxiolytic therapy for clients
• Analyze factors that influence pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes in clients requiring anxiolytic therapy
• Evaluate efficacy of treatment plans
• Analyze ethical and legal implications related to prescribing anxiolytic therapy to clients across the lifespan

Learning Resources

Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Required Readings

Note: All Stahl resources can be accessed through this link provided.

Stahl, S. M. (2013). Stahl’s essential psychopharmacology: Neuroscientific basis and practical applications (4th ed.). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

To access the following chapters, click on the Essential Psychopharmacology, 4th ed tab on the Stahl Online website and select the appropriate chapter. Be sure to read all sections on the left navigation bar for each chapter.

• Chapter 9, “Anxiety Disorder and Anxiolytics”

Stahl, S. M., & Grady, M. (2010). Stahl’s illustrated anxiety, stress, and PTSD. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

To access the following chapters, click on the Illustrated Guides tab and then the Anxiety, Stress, and PTSD tab.

• Chapter 4, “First-Line Medications for PTSD”
• Chapter 5, “Second-Line, Adjunct, and Investigational Medications for PTSD”

Strawn, J. R., Wehry, A. M., DelBello, M. P., Rynn, M. A., & Strakowski, S. (2012). Establishing the neurobiologic basis of treatment in children and adolescents with generalized anxiety disorder. Depression and Anxiety, 29(4), 328-339. doi:10.1002/da.21913

Hamilton, M. (1959). Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale. PsycTESTS, doi:10.1037/t02824-0

Required Media

Laureate Education. (2016b). Case study: A middle-aged Caucasian man with anxiety [Interactive media file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.Note: This case study will serve as the foundation for this week’s Assignment.

Optional Resources

Lupi, M., Martinotti, G., Acciavatti, T., Pettorruso, M., Brunetti, M., Santacroce, R., & … Di Giannantonio, M. (2014). Pharmacological treatments in gambling disorder: A qualitative review. Biomed Research International, 2014. doi:10.1155/2014/537306

To prepare for this Assignment:

• Review this week’s Learning Resources. Consider how to assess and treat clients requiring anxiolytic therapy.

The Assignment

Examine Case Study: A Middle-Aged Caucasian Man With Anxiety.
You will be asked to make three decisions concerning the medication to
prescribe to this client. Be sure to consider factors that might impact
the client’s pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes.

At each decision point stop to complete the following:

• Decision #1
  • Which decision did you select?
  • Why did you select this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources.
  • What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision? Support
    your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources.
  • Explain any difference between what you expected to achieve with
    Decision #1 and the results of the decision. Why were they different?
• Decision #2
  • Why did you select this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources.
  • What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision? Support
    your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources.
  • Explain any difference between what you expected to achieve with
    Decision #2 and the results of the decision. Why were they different?
• Decision #3
  • Why did you select this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources.
  • What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision? Support
    your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources.
  • Explain any difference between what you expected to achieve with
    Decision #3 and the results of the decision. Why were they different?

Also include how ethical considerations might impact your treatment plan and communication with clients.

Note: Support your rationale with a minimum of three
academic resources. While you may use the course text to support your
rationale, it will not count toward the resource requirement.

Submission and Grading Information

To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

• Save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK5Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
• Click on the Assignment Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
• Click on the Week 5 Assignment link. Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK5Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click on Open.
• If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click in the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:Week 5 Assignment Rubric

Check Your Assignment Draft for Authenticity

To check your Assignment draft for authenticity:Submit your Week 5 Assignment draft and review the originality report.

Submit Your Assignment by Day 7

To submit your Assignment:Week 5 Assignment

Making Connections

Now that you have:

• Assessed clients presenting with PTSD and other anxiety disorders
• Developed personalized plans of anxiolytic therapy for clients
• Examined factors that influence pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes in clients requiring anxiolytic therapy
• Explored ethical and legal implications of prescribing anxiolytic therapy to clients

Next week, you will build on your assessment and treatment skills as you examine clients presenting for antipsychotic therapy.

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