Effects of State Trait Anxiety on Thorax, Diaphragm and Related Fascia.

Detailed Summary

Previous studies have accepted a strong correlation between anxiety and dysregulation in respiratory rate. The investigators would like to explore this correlation from an osteopathic perspective. The investigators seek to assess the muscles, bones, ligaments, and fascia related to the respiratory system, mainly the thoracic diaphragm. The study does not focus on clinically diagnosed General Anxiety Disorder but rather State-Trait Anxiety among medical student participants. State Anxiety is the temporary anxiety one feels in certain situations, and Trait Anxiety is the stable tendency to become anxious. The investigators aim to assess somatic dysfunctions in medical students' respiratory systems and correlate those findings with their respective scores on the State-Trait Inventory for Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety (STICSA) survey. The investigators will assess the patient's somatic dysfunction using an osteopathic structural exam, and the STICSA will quantify the patient's level of statetrait anxiety. This inquiry will further explore osteopathic medicine's perspective on addressing the patient as a whole by correlating the close relationship between one's mental state and the resultant physical dysfunctions within different areas of the body. Establishing this correlation can pave the way for a new perspective on treating mental health disorders that is both cost-effective and potentially more efficacious than the traditional method, which has a high relapse rate. Exploring the connection between somatic dysfunctions and state-trait anxiety will benefit the patient's overall well-being and add a new level of care that osteopathic physicians can provide to others.

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