Generalized Anxiety Disorders: A Case Study

William, a 26-year old recent college graduate is afraid of losing everything, his relationships, his job, his family, himself. His started worrying when he was younger; would his parents be fighting this week, now that his parents were divorcing he worried that his mom wouldn’t have enough money to live on her own, was this his fault? How could he have let this happen? When William started track his junior year of high school he couldn’t stop thinking of what others were thinking of him, after only two weeks he left track with the overwhelming fear that he would be deeply shamed and embarrassed when not finishing first. William has continuously quit other activities because of his worrying about himself and how he would be viewed by others. …show more content…
After beginning college William saw an upswing in his worrying, it had spread to his school work, his getting ready in the morning, he felt debilitated in fear of the world outside of himself and began skipping course work, ignoring his family and friends. His worrying had turned to depressive thoughts and confusion of why he was alive. From a biological stand point we will look to William’s brain chemistry. He seems to be showing symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder as well as depression. When in reference to the biological perspective it’s important to note that the brain chemistry of someone suffering from generalized anxiety disorder is chemically different than that of someone who is not. The amygdala is the center in the brain that controls fight or flight