Training Module on the Right to Mental Health for the Security Sector traumatic reactions close to the time of the injurious event, and it reinforces the importance of early treatment where ASD is clinically indicated. Early treatment is especially important for crime victims, for whom optimal clinical intervention begins from the initial moment of contact with the first responder. Remember that PTSD and ASD can both happen to the crime victim and to the responders – who are the military and police authorities ANXIETY DISORDERS • Characterized by heightened worry, fear, and arousal and are classified into several main types. • Individuals with anxiety disorder are always anxious about something, although the level of anxiety may wax and wane in response to different situations. Others may perceive these individuals as never being able to relax or be at peace. • Some individuals with anxiety disorders may also suffer from panic attacks which are brief episodes of extremely elevated physiological arousal and fear. During a panic attack, the individual may experience a racing, pounding heart, profuse sweating, rapid and shallow breathing, numbness and tingling in the face and extremities, and faintness or lightheadedness— all the hallmarks of sheer terror. MOOD DISORDERS Mood disorders are generally classified into unipolar and bipolar types, depending on whether the extreme changes in mood are in one direction (down = depressed) or both directions (down = depressed and up = elated or up = angry) 33 • Major depressive disorder is characterized by episodes of depressed mood that may last for days, weeks, or months at a time. In severe cases, the individual may be virtually immobilized. More characteristically, subjects feel dejected, demoralized, helpless, and hopeless. Sleep and appetite may be impaired. Concentration and memory may be affected to the point where individuals feel they are becoming demented. Gone is any motivation or enthusiasm for work, play, or family activities. • Depression will likely be exacerbated by criminal victimization. The sense of helplessness and hopelessness that characterizes the cognitive component of depression may come to assimilate the ruminations about the crime, which may then become one of the cognitive themes of the patient’s depressive narrative. • Bipolar Disorder is also known as manic-depressive illness, is characterized