The "Improving Access to Psychological Therapies" (IAPT) initiative is very ambitious and exciting.  It states its principal aim is to support English Primary Care Trusts in implementing "National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence" (NICE) guidelines for people suffering from depression and anxiety disorders.  IAPT go on to say that "At present, only a quarter of the 6 million people in the UK with these conditions are in treatment, with debilitating effects on society."

One aspect of this carefully planned initiative is strong encouragement to assess and monitor the progress of those who are getting help.  Visiting the IAPT "Outcomes Toolkit and FAQ" web page provides access to several freely downloadable documents.  The emphasis is on good assessment measures that are free to use.  See below:

IAPT Outcomes Toolkit 2008/9 PDF - this 81 page 1.1Mb Adobe PDF is the September 08 version with amended IAPT Paper Based Data Set Questionnaires.

“

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.

” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Other anxiety disorders include Anxiety Disorders due to a General Medical Condition (where the anxiety is a direct physiological consequence of a general medical condition), Substance-Induced Anxiety Disorder (where the anxiety is directly caused by the physiological effects of a substance - drug of abuse or medication - including prescription use, poisoning, intoxication, or withdrawal), and Anxiety Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (where there is prominent clinically significant anxiety or phobic avoidance that doesn't meet the diagnostic criteria for any other anxiety or adjustment disorder).

Health anxiety disorder and hypochondriasis are typically classified under Somatoform disorders.

“

Love makes labour light.  Love alone gives value to all things. 

” - St Teresa of Avila

Acute stress disorder

“

The brains of human beings seem built to process stories better than other forms of input ...  

” - Thomas B Newman, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

“

Fathers and teachers, I ponder, “What is hell?” I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love. 

” - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Specific phobias

“

Without courage other values wither away into mere facsimiles of virtue

” - Rollo May

Social anxiety disorder

“ Better keep yourself clean and bright. You are the window through which you must see the world. ” - George Bernard Shaw

Panic disorder

“

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.

” - Viktor Frankl

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)