Download Anxiety Disorders - School District #83

Psychology – Behavior 05
Notes
Disorders Part I
Psychological disorders, like medical conditions, have to be classified and organized so that
other psychiatrists and physicians can make accurate diagnoses. The current medical
journal for classifying psychological disorders is the American Psychiatric Association’s
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4 th ed.) or simply known as DSM-IV.
The old DSM manual used to classify disorders into two parts, Neurosis and Psychosis, and
although these two terms are still used by psychiatrists, the new DSM has been broken
down into six more specific disorders;
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Anxiety Disorders
Somatoform Disorders
Dissociative Disorders
Mood Disorders
Schizophrenic Disorders
Personality Disorders
Anxiety Disorders
There are three types of anxiety disorders outlined in the DSM-IV;
1. Generalized Anxiety Disorder
2. Phobic Disorder
- Sufferers’ symptoms include being continuously
tense and jittery, being apprehensive about bad
things that might happen to them, and autonomic
nervous system arousal such as a racing heart. Often
these symptoms can escalate into full blown panic
attacks.
- Sufferers often focus on a fear of some specific object, activity
or situation, such as an irrational fear of thunderstorms or of riding
in an elevator.
3. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- Sufferers are basically obsessed with senseless or
offensive thoughts that will not go away. Many
people obsess over different things, especially during
times of stress or pressure, however, obsessions
becomes a disorder when it becomes so persistent
that it interferes with the way that person lives
their life or if it causes undo distress.
Anxiety Disorders can sometimes be explained;
Psychoanalytically
- the behavior is related to some Freudian, unconscious,
childhood trauma. For example a person’s irrational fear of
riding in an elevator may be the result of a childhood trauma
relating to either an elevator or another closed space
environment.
Behaviourally
- it is a learned behavior such as learned helplessness or a
post-traumatic stress disorder.
Biologically
- our natural fear of heights, storms or snakes taken to an
extreme.
In one study of seventy children and adolescents suffering
obsessive-compulsive disorder reported that their symptoms
were;
Obsessions
Reporting Symptoms
Concerns with dirt, germs or toxins
40%
Something terrible happening (fire, death,
illness)
24%
Symmetry, order, or exactness
17%
Compulsions
Excessive hand washing, bathing, tooth
brushing or grooming.
85%
Repeating rituals (in/out of a door, up/down
from a chair)
51%
Checking doors, locks, appliances, car brake,
homework, etc.
46%
Psychology – Behavior 05
Assignment
Disorders Part I
Directions: READ the handout entitled Answers about Anxiety by Charollete E. Grayson and
Jennifer Warner, taken from the WebMD website, and answer the following questions.
1.
Answer the following questions using COMPLETE SENTENCES.
a.
In your own words, identify some of the major symptoms of an anxiety disorder and
describe how it is usually treated. (4 marks for quality of response)
b. Using your own words, describe why an anxiety disorder early in life is probably
more dangerous to an individual than to someone later on in life. Or in other words,
how do you think an anxiety disorder can affect the development of a child or
adolescent? (4 marks for quality response and evidence of effort)
c.
Why do you think that anxiety disorders often result in physical discomfort?
(2 marks for evidence of thought and effort)
d. How do you think Freud would explain the cause of anxiety attacks? Would his
diagnosis be accepted today? How do you think it would be treated? (5 marks for
quality of thought and effort)
2. Personal Response: Everyone has experienced anxiety of some degree during their
lives, whether it was in front of class giving an oral presentation or whether it was
standing on top of a cliff deciding whether or not you should jump into the water.
Describe a situation where you have experienced anxiety.
There is no right or wrong answer; you will be marked out of 5 based
solely on your ability to accurately describe an
anxious moment in your life.
Total: ____ / 20
Psychology – Behavior 05
Reading
Answers about Anxiety
by Charollete E. Grayson and Jennifer Warner,
Taken From www.webmd.com, first published March 2002 and April 2003
What is It?
We're all familiar with anxiety. That apprehensive feeling that something bad is going to
happen is a natural and appropriate response to dangerous or unfamiliar situations.
But if you often feel the heart-pounding, chest-tightening adrenaline rush of the "fight or
flight" response, even though nothing and no one is actively threatening you, or if fear and
worry continuously occupy your thoughts, interfering with your daily life, that could indicate
an anxiety disorder.
Anxiety disorders are quite common, affecting about 20-25 million Americans. They include
generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, phobias, social anxiety, obsessive-compulsive
disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Anxiety disorders are believed to stem from a complex combination of genetic,
environmental, psychological, and bodily factors. As with most illnesses, some people are
more susceptible than others, and some illnesses have a higher genetic component than
others. Close relatives of people with panic disorder have a 4-7 times increased risk of
getting panic disorder.
Three quarters of people with anxiety disorders continue to suffer needlessly, never
seeking help. But anxiety disorders are highly treatable, and the vast majority of patients
get relief from their symptoms through a combination of drugs that reduce anxiety and
talking therapies.
Question:
I am a young man of 22 and was wondering if anxiety affects people of different ages in
different ways? Also, does being male or female have any impact on the effects of anxiety?
Answer:
Yes, there are some gender differences in anxiety disorders. Some anxiety disorders seem
to affect men and women in equal numbers but others are more common in one sex.
For example, panic disorders, phobias, and generalized anxiety are twice as common in
women than in men, but obsessive-compulsive disorder and social anxiety affect both sexes
equally.
Different types of anxiety disorders also tend to affect people at different stages of their
lives. Panic disorders, social anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders tend to start early
in life, but generalized anxiety disorders start a bit later.
The effects of anxiety disorders can also vary according to what stage of life a person is in.
If a person can't go to work or school because avoidance is part of their anxiety, it can have
a huge impact on their development. That's why having anxiety early in life can have a major
impact on the trajectory of a person's life. The behavior associated with the disorder then
has more of an impact on the person's life than anxiety itself. -- Sally Winston, PsyD, codirector of the Anxiety and Stress Disorders Institute of Maryland in Baltimore.
Question:
Can anxiety be the primary cause of a physical, diagnosable malady or can it only contribute
to the severity? My doctor thinks stressors contribute minimally to my gall bladder disease
and GERD, but my psychotherapist things my anxiety is the cause of these diagnoses.
Answer:
Anxiety disorder has been labeled the "great pretender" because it frequently looks like
other illnesses, but with a good screening by a health professional and care these
complications are treatable.
Stress can contribute variably to all sorts of illnesses. It has a minor effect in some
conditions and a major impact on others. For example, gastrointestinal disorders, such as
GERD, are highly stress sensitive, but gall bladder disease is at the other end of the
spectrum and not usually affected by stress levels. -- Sally Winston, PsyD, co-director of
the Anxiety and Stress Disorders Institute of Maryland in Baltimore.
Question:
Is there a possible connection between anxiety and hypochondria?
Answer:
We call the relationship between anxiety and health "health anxiety." Excessive worries
about health are usually based on a symptom that a person has a hard time being reassured
about. There may be an underlying cause that hasn't been fully explained. But this is also
highly treatable.
Some people may also have an anxiety disorder that causes them to be excessively fearful
of catching an illness. This is not hypochondria, which involves fearing you have an illness
that is not detected, but it's about being afraid that you might contract an illness. -- Sally
Winston, PsyD, co-director of the Anxiety and Stress Disorders Institute of Maryland in
Baltimore.
Question:
Is it possible for someone to suffer from anxiety/panic attacks due to something terrible
that happened as a child?
Answer:
The triggers can be a remembered event, a vaguely remembered event, or even a forgotten
early childhood experience that affects the body in a way that makes it prone to anxiety.
It's important to remember that this type of anxiety is also treatable without having to go
back into the past and find out what happened. You don't have to go there in order to find
relief from anxiety. -- Sally Winston, PsyD, co-director of the Anxiety and Stress
Disorders Institute of Maryland in Baltimore