Maxine's Anxiety Theory

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Maxine is an African American, 56-year-old, female, who is currently living in a women’s shelter near Downtown Los Angeles. Based on the background information, Maxine’s recent hospitalization can be understood from the theory of reasoned action. The theory of reasoned action looks at the influence of significant others on individual behavior and whether individual behavior follows reasonably from their own norm about performing the behavior (Yzer, 2012). Although Maxine has a good record of adherence to her medication, her lack of familial support and passing of her son and husband influenced her health condition to take a turn for the worst. Maxine is dealing with anxiety, an expression of anticipation when something bad is going to happen, …show more content…

Maxine’s anxiety disorder is causing her to have panic attacks, devastating feelings of panic and terror, thoughts or intrusive memories, and poor sleep (Wiltshire, 2015). Maxine doesn’t have the capacity to regulate her emotions because of her state of mind psychologically as a 56-year-old woman who lost it all, so to speak. Her life experiences trigger her amygdala to respond to day-to-day situations with anticipated fear and excessive worrying. Psychologically, Maxine losing her phone caused her to have a major panic attack because her hippocampus responds in the only way it recognizes, through irritability and fearful anticipation. Maxine’s panic disorder causes her to self-doubt triggering her to over analyze even the smallest situations. In addition, Maxine states that she felt like a “zombie walking through life” and has experienced very sleep due to her psychological symptoms of anxiety. As a result, she undergoes feelings that are dysphoric causing her to have insomnia or irritability (Berzoff et al., 2016; Wiltshire, 2015). Maxine’s inability to regulate her emotions can be understood from the theory of reasoned action. Maxine’s anticipated fear that something “bad” is going to happen can be the trigger for her panic and generalized anxiety disorder. Her excessive worrying comes from her experiences with her sick husband, living with relatives, sexual assault, sexual molestation, and relationship with her sons. Through her experiences it’s only natural for her to behave with excessive alertness, restlessness, and