The Revolutionary Art of Acceptance

According to previous studies, generalized anxiety disorder has a 5-6% lifetime prevalence and is one of the most common anxiety disorders worldwide. Patients with GAD have abnormal concern and physiological impairment symptoms such as poor sleeping habits, increased irritability, and muscle tension. Disability is a well-known issue connected with GAD because the disorder interferes with the patient’s social life and general body functions. In this research, we strive to unravel the potential treatment strategies for GAD, as well as to comprehend its source and the impact it has on its victims socially, economically, and physiologically.  Based on a study conducted by WHO, slightly above 35% of individuals suffering from GAD had an average of six days per month when they could not be able to engage in their occupations actively. Moreover, patients suffering from this disorder tend to use health facilities frequently, and in general, the patient’s life becomes very disabled. Due to the improved techniques in curbing the GAD, it is necessary to consider the features of the patient population and find out the factors that are in defense of social and professional/occupational disability characterizing the disorder. Currently, the emerging self-reports instruments show that there are chances of new features of the disease emerging in recent time. There are two traits considered from the therapeutic approach, i.e., mindfulness and self-compassion.

Mindfulness refers to the nonjudgmental attention experienced by someone as a result of a given situation or experience, and it is critical for this study since this will enable better ways and techniques of curbing the dangers that result from this disorder (Schanche, & Elisabeth, 2013). Mindfulness-based therapy diagnoses person that suffers from the disease and this looks at the sensation of a patient’s body whenever they become anxious. As a result, the victim is advised to fully experience the challenges brought by anxiety and never withdraw from these.

Well established results from the mental health and empirical data show that there are minimal mindfulness levels in GAD patients. So far, there is just a single study showing that mindfulness levels in GAD patients are considerably lower in comparison with no anxious controls. Self-compassion refers to being true to self-persecutions, experiencing caring feelings and kindness concerning a particular arising situation. Both mindfulness and self-compassion show the relationship that people have with themselves and their experiences.

Research on mindfulness on pain reveals that with mindfulness training, a feeling is possible in which as pain can be experienced and patients necessarily don’t need to suffer as a result.

Another treatment approach is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a technique that is also frequently used in curbing GAD. This method has its basis in the theory that patient exaggerates the disadvantage of the disruptive event in his/her life and looks down upon his ability to manage it. CBT attempts to take the place of maladaptive thoughts by looking at the patients destructed thinking and restoring the fight response with some that are more precise. The person suffering from anxiety and the doctor taking him through therapy operate together to alter the patterns of thinking.

Methods and materials

Self-compassion is perceived to have three concepts that are interconnected and are experiences during times of disappointment and failure. These components are self-kindness, common humanity and self-judgment. There is an interconnection between these parts and in various aspects explains it: the element of self-kindness viruses’ self-judgment (Diedrich et al., 2014) whereas self-kindness focuses self-sympathy, self-forgiveness and patience with oneself, the latter involves being hostile and unkind to one. One aspect counteracts another, i.e. when one experiences a tricky situation that immensely disappoints making him feel pity and sorry for them, this person will be suffering self-judgment at that moment. As a result, he will decide to rescue himself from the situation by convincing himself through the aspect of self-kindness.

Another aspect is of general humanity and isolation. Common understanding focuses on the interconnection between human beings when they face with sorrow or disappointment (Barnard, & Laura, 2011). Many people, when faced with these circumstances, tend to isolate themselves from others including close family members thinking that this can make then come out of the mess. This study looks at a situation whereby when one experiences disappointments, they can look up to consultation with others and come together in common humanity to curb isolation and relieve of stress as a way of solving the problem.

There is also a mindfulness verse over identifying oneself. This study focused on mindfulness as a way of trying to mitigate GAD when it arises. Mindfulness involves just observing and carefully labeling negative thoughts when they come rather than counteracting them immediately. Mindfulness can be disadvantaged by two opposing alternatives: that is over identification and avoiding others in times of storm. Over-identification refers to overlooking one’s adversities and limitations, and this prevents GAD victims from experiencing a full dose of the situation. The situation goes against the rules of mindfulness as it requires one not to resist the experience on the ground: whether positive or negative.

Similarly, avoidance also makes one try to run away from adverse circumstances in order not to face the full force of them. Mindfulness in totality tries to resist all the above to enable the victim to look at a better way of solving the situation at hand. This study seeks to examine at mindfulness as a current correction of the above two thus resulting in a treatment mechanism for GAD.

Participants that were involved included current GAD individuals as specified by DSM-IV-TR approach and healthy controls with high ratings of subjection to stress were taken to MGHDP for examination purposes. Eligibility needed the participants to be medically fit, free from mental disorders and free from any psychosis lifetime history

Some approaches were used to carry out the study, and these include Participants filled self-report questionnaires. MGH reviewing board authorized the procedures that I used in the study review. I examined all the participants using: compassion scale (CS), index on anxiety sensitivity (IAS) and anxiety scale of Beck (ASB) for measuring individuals suffering from GAD only.

CS is a 26-item scale that relies on the report on individuals, and it functions on a 5-point Likert scale for every object in assessing compassion and being kind to one’s self. The subscales that are positive include self-kindness, common humanity while negative subscales are withdrawal, judging oneself and excessive Identification.

AIS is 16-item based individual report instrument and is meant to examine fear of anxiety and measure of someone’s discomfort and various feelings associated with panicking and anxiety. I also investigated Patients’ items on the Likert scale. ASB relies on 21 individuals’ reports, and it examines symptoms of stress, and their frequency of occurrence, e.g., fright, somatic symptoms, and psychiatric population. ASB is having a consistent record of (0.91-0.95) with (0.66-0.94) reliability.

GAD (N=83) controls (N=45) p- value

Age, mean (SD) 38.7 (13) 38.00(10.0) 0.75

Race, % (n) 85.2 %( 85) 75.10 %( 38.9) 0.99

Gender % (male) 50.6 %( 40) 65.25 %( 31.5) 0.13

Self-kindness (SD) 2.4(0.69) 2.92(0.73) 0.00099

Self-judgment 2.57(0.7) 1.91(0.80)