Anxiety Disorders

Warren tagged me and wrote I need to post the 6th, 7th, and 8th sentences from page 123 of the nearest book. The text Psychopathology happens to be sitting on the table next to me, but page 123 is just a page of references. I’ll flip forward to the next page with some actual sentences, which happens to be the introduction to a chapter on Anxiety Disorders. Beginning with the sixth sentence on the page:

Anxiety also denotes sets of proposed mental illnesses called anxiety disorders, as in the title of this chapter. The theory that some psychological problems are anxiety disorders, or are caused by anxiety disorders, derives from the medical model that views people’s psychological problems as psychopathlogy, symptoms, psychiatric syndromes, mental illnesses, mental disorders, and related disease-like conditions. Anxiety disorder theory is emboded in detail in leading psychiatric organizations’ official manuals of mental disorders (American Psychiatric Assocation, 1994, DSM-IV; 1980, DSM-III; 1987, DSM-III-R; World Health Organization, 1992, ICD-10).

My wife is in grad school to be a professional shrink; I have fun reading some of her books (and I’d be a horrible counselor, trust me). I’ll tag Jen, Jerry, Ron, Nick and Russ. Grab the nearest book, turn to page 123, post sentences 6, 7, and 8 from that page, then curse five more people.

If you continue this chain you will win the lottery, piles of cash will fall from the sky straight to you, you’ll be promoted to CEO of your employer, and you’ll be able to influence everybody around you. Break the chain, though, and you’ll be arrested and charged with every heinous unsolved murder in your state, but before your trial agents from Blackwater Security will break you out of prison, frame you for the anthrax attack that terrorizes a minor city in the Middle East and loose you in the streets of Tehran where crazed mobs tear you apart limb from limb.

Richard Nixon of Yorba Linda, California broke the chain; he fell from being the leader of the free world to becoming a disgraced and hated criminal. Ted Kaczynski of Chicago, IL had a promising academic career when he broke the chain and became a lunatic murderer. Osama bin Laden of Riyahdh, Saudi Arabia climbed the corporate ladder of his father’s business when he broke the chain and he now lives in filthy caves as the evil mastermind of a terrorist organization. Paris Hilton of New York City was known for her ground breaking cancer research and achievements in astronomical physics, but then she broke the chain and became a ditz. Floyd Landis was a world class cyclist loved by millions until he broke the chain; now he’s discredited and everybody thinks he’s a loser who needs to dope to win. DON’T BREAK THE CHAIN!

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