Not Otherwise Specified: Anxiety & the Work of Dr. Robert Hudak

Southwest Pennsylvania National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) held its annual conference at the beginning of April, and one of their afternoon breakout workshop presenters was Dr. Robert Hudak, assistant professor of psychiatry at Western Psychiatric Institute & Clinic, University of Pittsburgh. “Pathways to Hope: Shaping a Positive Future in Uncertain Times” was the conference topic; Dr. Hudak’s contribution was “Coping with Anxiety and Panic Attacks.” I communicated with Dr. Hudak recently, to clarify some questions, get his take on some extrapolations of anxiety and even to inquire about an interesting diagnostic title he proposed in his presentation. Conference breakout workshops, be they NAMI or just about any organization, can never do justice to a topic in the short time allotted, but it is always good to get a small group together to at least begin a dialogue. In his session, Dr. Hudak defined anxiety, reviewed the disorders as classified by the old and up-and-coming Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), discussed when and how to treat anxiety, and addressed referral concerns. Most of the content described herein is directly from his slide presentation, combined with quotes from my interview with him. Interestingly, anxiety is “the only psychiatric symptom that is also experienced by individuals with no psychopathology.” Think about what that means. It can be found in normal emotion, or in psychiatric illness. But it can show up as “se...
Source: Psych Central - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Addictions Alcoholism Anti-anxiety Cognitive-Behavioral Disorders Dual Diagnosis General Medications Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Psychology Psychotherapy Substance Abuse Treatment Anxiety And Panic Attacks Breakout Workshops Source Type: news