How Is An Anxiety Disorder Diagnosed In Adults?

Dr. Levendusky answers the question: 'How Is An Anxiety Disorder Diagnosed?'

ByABC News
April 15, 2008, 5:32 PM

— -- Question: How is an anxiety disorder diagnosed in adults?

Answer: It's typically diagnosed with interview. The clinician will ask questions of the client and try to identify those characteristics that might be consistent with a anxiety disorder. Sometimes the interview is supplemented with testing questionnaires that are designed to both identify the presence of an anxiety disorder as well as the severity of the anxiety disorder.

And occasionally, direct behavioral observations will be used to determine whether the person responds in situations that would be consistent with an anxiety disorder.

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