Anxiety Disorders

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Anxiety Disorders

• Anxiety an unpleasant feeling of fear and
  apprehension
• previously called neuroses

Anxiety disorders involve symptoms of anxiety
that impair normal functioning (different than
being anxious about finals)
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5 types of Anxiety Disorders

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
• Phobias
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
• Panic Disorder
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

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Generalized Anxiety Disorder

• Chronic ( persistent) anxiety and worry
• (for at least 6 months)
• Symptoms include
• muscle tension
• irritability
• difficulty sleeping
• upset stomach

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Phobias

• a phobia is an intense, irrational fear caused by
  presence of a particular object or situation
• Fear and avoidance interferes with normal routine
• Person recognizes that fear is excessive
• 2 types
• Specific Phobia and Social Phobia

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Specific Phobias

• Persistent fear of a specific stimulus
• Common classes of specific phobias
• Blood, injuries, or injections
• Situations (planes, elevators)
• Animals
• Natural environment (water, heights)

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Examples of Specific Phobias
Phobia Involves Fear of
Acrophobia Heights Claustrophobia Confined
Places Pnigophobia Choking Taphephobia Being
Buried Alive Hellenologophobia Pseudoscientific
Terms
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Social Phobia

• a persistent fear linked to public situations
  and/or the presence of other people

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Common Social Phobias

• Fear of public speaking
• Choking while eating in front of others
• Being unable to urinate in a public bathroom
• Hand-trembling while writing in front of others
• Saying foolish things in social situations

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Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

• Obsessions intrusive and recurring thoughts
• Compulsions repetitive behaviors or mental
  actions that are repeated in order to reduce
  anxiety

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Common Obsessions

• Repeated thoughts about contamination germs
• Repeated doubts
• A need to have things in a particular order

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Common Compulsions

• Washing and cleaning
• Checking
• Avoiding particular objects
• Performing repetitive actions

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Panic Disorder

• attacks of hopeless terror (panic) unprovoked by
  any specific threat
• often also suffer from agoraphobia
• ( fear of public places)

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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

• Extreme response to an extreme stressor
• (e.g., military combat, torture, sexual assault,
  ...)
• PTSD symptoms may include
• Reexperiencing the traumatic event
• Increased anxiety and arousal
• Avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma
• Numbing of emotional responses

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Lifetime Prevalence
Figure 16.1, p. 615
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Etiology Treatment of Anxiety Disorders

• Etiology causes
• 3 theoretical approaches
• Psychoanalytic
• Cognitive / Behavioral
• Biological

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Psychoanalytic Approach

• Etiology Anxiety results from unconscious
  conflicts between ego, superego and id.
• Treatment Reveal sources of conflict by using
  psychoanalysis.
• not very effective for treating anxiety disorders

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Cognitive/Behavioral

• Etiology Anxiety results from maladaptive
  patterns of thought
• Treatment
• Relaxation training
• Cognitive interventions

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Cognitive/Behavioral

• Etiology Conditioning of anxiety to external
  stimuli
• Treatment
• Exposure Therapy (for PTSD)
• Exposure and Response Prevention (for OCD)
• Systematic desensitization and Flooding (for
  phobias)

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Biological Approach

• Etiology Anxiety disorders result from an
  imbalance in brain chemistry
• Most anxiety disorders are moderately heritable
• We may be biologically prepared to learn certain
  fears (phobias)
• Treatment Anxiolytic ( anxiety reducing) drugs
  some antidepressants

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