Download Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety Disorders
AP Psychology
Anxiety
• A generalized feeling of
apprehension and dread that
includes many bodily upsets.
Panic Attacks
• Can occur in the context of any A.D
as well as other mental disorders.
• Discrete period of intense fear or
discomfort in the absence of real
danger
• Somatic or cognitive
• Sweating, trembling, chest pain,
sensations of shortness of breath,
dizziness, fear of losing control.
• Attacks peak at 10 minutes.
Diagnosis w/ any type of
Anxiety Disorder… Maladaptive
•
a person must have the following
3 distinct characteristics:
1. Uncontrollable: can not shut off
the “alarm system”
2. Disruptive
3. Anxiety is out of proportion to the
actual danger or threat imposed
by the situation.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
• An excessive or unrealistic worry
about life circumstances that last
for at least six months.
• “free floating anxiety”
• Typical worries focus on finances,
employment, interpersonal
problems, accidents, or illness.
Diagnostic criteria
• 6 months
• Difficult to control the worry
• At least three or more are present:
restlessness/on edge
being easily fatigued
difficulty concentrating
irritability
muscle tension
sleep disturbance
GAD
• Most common anxiety disorder
• Few people seek treatment
• Children can also be diagnose with
this disorder
• Many people with GAD also have
other anxiety disorders.
Panic Disorder
• Characterized by frequent and
overwhelming attacks of anxiety
that are not associated with
specific objects or events.
• 6 months
• Disorder starts b/c something is
physically or chemically wrong.
• First: Physical occurrence
• Soon: Panic spreads
• Problem: physical to psychological
Treatment (next chapter)
• Biomedical therapies, Behavioral
therapies, and Psychotherapy
Phobic Disorders
• A person becomes disabled and
overwhelmed by fear in the
presence of certain objects or
events.
• Phobia: “fear of “
Two basic types of Phobic Disorders
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1. Specific Phobia
• Phobic Disorder associated w/ a
specific object or situation.
• Ex. Dogs, snakes, elevators, and
heights, water, etc.
• Faced w/ the phobic stimulus the
person becomes extremely
anxious.
• 6 months
1a. Social Phobias
• This is among the most common
phobic disorders.
• Irrational fear of normal social
events.
• Example: “Ted has trouble going to
social events because he cannot
use the bathroom anywhere except
at his own house” (DSM-V, case
manual, 2013)
What causes Specific Phobia?
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Association/ Learning (chapter 6)
Remember:
UCS
UCR
CS
CR
Remember:
Stimulus generalization, Stimulus
discrimination, extinction, and
spontaneous recovery.
• “Little Albert”
• Operant Conditioning and O.L.
• Another theory: Preparedness
Hypothesis
Specific Phobia
• Treatment (next chapter):
systematic desensitization.
Biomedical therapies,
psychotherapy, and Cognitive
behavior therapy
2nd type of Phobic disorder
• Agoraphobia: anxiety about being
in places or situations from which
escape might be difficult (or
embarrassing).
• 6 months
Agoraphobia
• Avoid:
1. Situations that they think might
provoke a panic attack
2. Situations in which they would be
unable to escape or get help if
they did suffer a P.A.
3. Ex. Crowds, standing in line,
elevators, public transp.
Agoraphobia
• Many agoraphobics are women.
• Most agoraphobics have a specific
boundary. Varies from person to
person
New disorder
• Next disorder:
– In the DSM-V, this disorder has
received its own chapter, separate
from anxiety disorders.
– 10th leading cause of mental disability
in the developed countries.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• Obsession refers to an endless
preoccupation with some type of
urge or thought.
• Compulsion is a symbolic, ritualized
behavior that a person must
repeatedly act out.
• !!!each time the person acts out the
behavior, the anxiety he/she feels
is decreased.
OCD
• Characterized by both repetitive
thoughts (obsession) and
ritualized, repetitive behavior
(compulsion).
• Most people w/ OCD are “checkers”
• Marked distress
• Time consuming (one hour or
more)
• Inefficient performance of
cognitive tasks
• Avoidance of objects or situations:
restrict general functioning.
Explaining OCD
• Deficiency in the neurotransmitter
serotonin
• Medication that increases the
availability of serotonin, helps
many patients.
• Dysfunction in specific brain areas:
frontal lobes, caudate nucleus
(movements) in OCD the C.N. is
overactive.
• Defense mechanism: faulty
attempts to resolve guilt, anxiety,
or insecurity.
Explaining OCD
• Learned behavior
• Treatment (more details in the next
chapter)
• Biomedical therapies
• Psychotherapy
• Behavioral therapy
Anxiety Disorders
• The End