ANXIETY SEVERITY AND PERSONALITY FUNCTIONING IN AMBULATORY PSYCHIATRIC PATIENTS
Keywords:
anxiety, mixed anxiety-depressive disorder, functioning impairment and treatmentAbstract
High levels of anxiety can increase individuals risk for developing anxiety disorder throughout their lifetime. Personality dysfunction is always present in anxiety and mixed anxiety-depressive disorders, only severe function impairment meet the criteria for personality disorders. Distress and dysfunction are maladaptive reactions where parenting styles, family environment, socioeconomic status and thinking errors may work together to shape an individual response to stress.
In the Center for Mental Health ”Vlae”- Psychiatric Hospital “Skopje” from September to November 2025, 37 outpatients were diagnosed with Anxiety and Mixed Anxiety with Depressive disorders. The measurement instruments used to assess the levels of anxiety was the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) and for the individual functioning was used The Level of Personality Functioning Scale – Brief Form 2.0 (LPFS-BF-2.0). Informed consent was obtained from participants.
All patients demonstrated high HAM-A scores, indicating severe anxiety across the outpatient sample. LPFS-BF scores show predominantly mild to moderate personality dysfunction, with a smaller subgroup exhibiting severe impairment which indicated personality disorder and necessity of subsequent adequate treatment pharmacological and evidence based psychotherapeutically treatments.
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