COMMENTARY
Mind and Body in Late-Life Anxiety
Raymond L. Ownby, Nova Southeastern University
T HE articles in this special series of the journal
Cognitive and Behavioral Practice highlight the increasing
importance of geriatrics and gerontology for
all clinical practitioners. This increase in importance
arises from anticipated demographic changes in the U.S.
population, with a larger proportion of the population
over 60 years of age. Mohlman and her colleagues (2012-
this issue) note this, and also note that there is likely to be
a corresponding increase in the prevalence of psychological
disorders in these older persons. The impact of these
trends on clinicians is thus to increase the importance of
older persons and the importance of developing appropriate
assessment and therapy techniques for working
with this group.
An important issue that is perhaps not explicitly
addressed in this series is why we need specialized assessment
and therapy techniques at all for the population
of persons 60 years of age and older. It may be worthwhile
to evaluate possible reasons why we need techniques that
are specifically developed, or at least modified, for older
adults. Multiple reasons can be provided for why we need
such techniques. Persons aged 60 and older have specific
needs and confront different development issues than
do persons in other age groups. Especially in the older
old (over 80 years of age), changes in perceptual and
cognitive function may have an impact on the utility of
assessment and therapy techniques. Older persons are
more likely to present for psychological treatment with
comorbid medical conditions that can affect a psychological
disorder’s initial presentation as well as the course of
its treatment. For these reasons, the papers in this issue
are a welcome addition.
Mohlman and her colleagues (2012-this issue) argue
for the usefulness of the structured clinical interview with
older adults. Such interviews, although potentially time
consuming, can help to ensure that important areas are
adequately explored and a useful diagnostic formulation
has been created. In this paper, Mohlman and colleagues
supplement their discussion of clinical interviewing with
helpful clinical insights, such as how to allay the older
persons’ anxiety at the beginning of the interview and
how to use language to ensure that rapport is established.
The authors of this paper go on to point out that
older persons’ use of or understanding of some terms,
even a common word such as “worry,” can affect the
course and accuracy of the interview. Although Mohlman
and colleagues (2012-this issue) use the example of
“worry,” this observation may reflect a more general
unwillingness of older persons to acknowledge symptoms
of psychological distress, including those reflecting mood
as well as anxiety. Older persons may thus insist that they
are not depressed, but be willing to acknowledge feeling
“a little down.” The clinician is then confronted with the
task of determining the severity of a specific psychological
symptom in the context of evaluating a person who may
minimize its significance. Considerable clinical acumen
may thus be required to evaluate the older person in this
kind of situation.
Mohlman and colleagues (2012-this issue) also
appropriately raise the potentially critical issue of
interview length. While many of the younger old (i.e.,
aged 60 to 80 years) may have no difficulty in participating
in an assessment interview that lasts 120 minutes or
longer, the older old (over 80 years of age) may not be
able to do so without excessive fatigue. Shortening the
interview by administering fewer modules is a helpful
strategy in this context, as is completing the interview in
several sessions. Related to the issue of interview length is
the garrulousness of some older persons, who may
expand on their answers in ways that are irrelevant to
the focus of the question or who may entertain the
interviewer with accounts of past experiences. Mohlman
and colleagues note that interviewers are sometimes
reluctant to interrupt in these situations. Appropriate
time management in the interview thus requires the
ability to focus and redirect the person being interviewed
Keywords: CBT; OCD; geriatrics
1077-7229/11/151-154$1.00/0
© 2011 Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.
Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
Cognitive and Behavioral Practice 19 (2012) 151-154
www.elsevier.com/locate/cabp
Are you busy and do not have time to handle your assignment? Are you scared that your paper will not make the grade? Do you have responsibilities that may hinder you from turning in your assignment on time? Are you tired and can barely handle your assignment? Are your grades inconsistent?
Whichever your reason is, it is valid! You can get professional academic help from our service at affordable rates. We have a team of professional academic writers who can handle all your assignments.
Students barely have time to read. We got you! Have your literature essay or book review written without having the hassle of reading the book. You can get your literature paper custom-written for you by our literature specialists.
Do you struggle with finance? No need to torture yourself if finance is not your cup of tea. You can order your finance paper from our academic writing service and get 100% original work from competent finance experts.
Computer science is a tough subject. Fortunately, our computer science experts are up to the match. No need to stress and have sleepless nights. Our academic writers will tackle all your computer science assignments and deliver them on time. Let us handle all your python, java, ruby, JavaScript, php , C+ assignments!
While psychology may be an interesting subject, you may lack sufficient time to handle your assignments. Don’t despair; by using our academic writing service, you can be assured of perfect grades. Moreover, your grades will be consistent.
Engineering is quite a demanding subject. Students face a lot of pressure and barely have enough time to do what they love to do. Our academic writing service got you covered! Our engineering specialists follow the paper instructions and ensure timely delivery of the paper.
In the nursing course, you may have difficulties with literature reviews, annotated bibliographies, critical essays, and other assignments. Our nursing assignment writers will offer you professional nursing paper help at low prices.
Truth be told, sociology papers can be quite exhausting. Our academic writing service relieves you of fatigue, pressure, and stress. You can relax and have peace of mind as our academic writers handle your sociology assignment.
We take pride in having some of the best business writers in the industry. Our business writers have a lot of experience in the field. They are reliable, and you can be assured of a high-grade paper. They are able to handle business papers of any subject, length, deadline, and difficulty!
We boast of having some of the most experienced statistics experts in the industry. Our statistics experts have diverse skills, expertise, and knowledge to handle any kind of assignment. They have access to all kinds of software to get your assignment done.
Writing a law essay may prove to be an insurmountable obstacle, especially when you need to know the peculiarities of the legislative framework. Take advantage of our top-notch law specialists and get superb grades and 100% satisfaction.
We have highlighted some of the most popular subjects we handle above. Those are just a tip of the iceberg. We deal in all academic disciplines since our writers are as diverse. They have been drawn from across all disciplines, and orders are assigned to those writers believed to be the best in the field. In a nutshell, there is no task we cannot handle; all you need to do is place your order with us. As long as your instructions are clear, just trust we shall deliver irrespective of the discipline.
Our essay writers are graduates with bachelor's, masters, Ph.D., and doctorate degrees in various subjects. The minimum requirement to be an essay writer with our essay writing service is to have a college degree. All our academic writers have a minimum of two years of academic writing. We have a stringent recruitment process to ensure that we get only the most competent essay writers in the industry. We also ensure that the writers are handsomely compensated for their value. The majority of our writers are native English speakers. As such, the fluency of language and grammar is impeccable.
There is a very low likelihood that you won’t like the paper.
Not at all. All papers are written from scratch. There is no way your tutor or instructor will realize that you did not write the paper yourself. In fact, we recommend using our assignment help services for consistent results.
We check all papers for plagiarism before we submit them. We use powerful plagiarism checking software such as SafeAssign, LopesWrite, and Turnitin. We also upload the plagiarism report so that you can review it. We understand that plagiarism is academic suicide. We would not take the risk of submitting plagiarized work and jeopardize your academic journey. Furthermore, we do not sell or use prewritten papers, and each paper is written from scratch.
You determine when you get the paper by setting the deadline when placing the order. All papers are delivered within the deadline. We are well aware that we operate in a time-sensitive industry. As such, we have laid out strategies to ensure that the client receives the paper on time and they never miss the deadline. We understand that papers that are submitted late have some points deducted. We do not want you to miss any points due to late submission. We work on beating deadlines by huge margins in order to ensure that you have ample time to review the paper before you submit it.
We have a privacy and confidentiality policy that guides our work. We NEVER share any customer information with third parties. Noone will ever know that you used our assignment help services. It’s only between you and us. We are bound by our policies to protect the customer’s identity and information. All your information, such as your names, phone number, email, order information, and so on, are protected. We have robust security systems that ensure that your data is protected. Hacking our systems is close to impossible, and it has never happened.
You fill all the paper instructions in the order form. Make sure you include all the helpful materials so that our academic writers can deliver the perfect paper. It will also help to eliminate unnecessary revisions.
Proceed to pay for the paper so that it can be assigned to one of our expert academic writers. The paper subject is matched with the writer’s area of specialization.
You communicate with the writer and know about the progress of the paper. The client can ask the writer for drafts of the paper. The client can upload extra material and include additional instructions from the lecturer. Receive a paper.
The paper is sent to your email and uploaded to your personal account. You also get a plagiarism report attached to your paper.
GET A PERFECT SCORE!!! 
Delivering a high-quality product at a reasonable price is not enough anymore.
That’s why we have developed 5 beneficial guarantees that will make your experience with our service enjoyable, easy, and safe.
You have to be 100% sure of the quality of your product to give a money-back guarantee. This describes us perfectly. Make sure that this guarantee is totally transparent.
Read moreEach paper is composed from scratch, according to your instructions. It is then checked by our plagiarism-detection software. There is no gap where plagiarism could squeeze in.
Read moreThanks to our free revisions, there is no way for you to be unsatisfied. We will work on your paper until you are completely happy with the result.
Read moreYour email is safe, as we store it according to international data protection rules. Your bank details are secure, as we use only reliable payment systems.
Read moreBy sending us your money, you buy the service we provide. Check out our terms and conditions if you prefer business talks to be laid out in official language.
Read more