Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety Disorders
a group of conditions where the
primary symptoms are anxiety or
defenses against anxiety.
The patient fears something awful
will happen to them.
Often called Neuroses
What is anxiety?
• A state of intense
apprehension, uneasiness,
uncertainty, or fear.
Hey…that sounds like
me…right???
Differs from normal day to
day anxiety in that anxiety
– or effort to control it –
begins to take control and
dominate life
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
• A person is continuously tense,
apprehensive and in a state of
autonomic nervous system arousal
(cant relax)
• Anxiety is not tied to any particular
object or situation
• Anxiety has a “free-floating” quality
The patient is constantly tense and worried,
feels inadequate, is oversensitive, can’t
concentrate and may suffer from insomnia. can lead to the more serious panic disorder
Panic Disorder
• sudden bouts of intense
unexplained terror
– Panic attacks
– episodes of intense dread, chest
pain, choking and other frightening
sensations
– People may think they are “going
crazy”
– More than three in six months is
cause for alarm
Can cause secondary disorders, such as
agoraphobia or social phobias.
Phobias
• Irrational or excessive fears of particular objects
or situations
– People recognize that fears are irrational, but still avoid
situations or objects
– Three types
– Social phobia, specific phobia, and agoraphobia
The Phobia
List Link
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
• characterized by unwanted
repetitive thoughts (obsessions)
and/or repetitive actions
(compulsions).
– Becomes OCD when it takes control of
our lives
Common Examples of OCD
Common Obsessions:
Common
Compulsions:
Contamination fears of germs, dirt,
Washing
etc.
Imagining having harmed self or
others
Imagining losing control of
aggressive urges
Repeating
Checking
Intrusive sexual thoughts or urges Touching
Excessive religious or moral doubt
Counting
Forbidden thoughts
Ordering/arranging
A need to have things "just so"
Hoarding or saving
A need to tell, ask, confess
Praying
Explanations for Anxiety Disorders
• Behavioral
– You Learn them through conditioning,
observational learning, and reinforcement
• Evolution
– fear based on earlier dangers to keep us alive
• Genes
– passed on
• Physiology (the brain)
– brains of those with anxiety disorders actually
function differently
• Cognitive
– The way you look at the world or social
situations (social phobias for example)
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
a.k.a. PTSD
• Flashbacks or
nightmares following
a person’s
involvement in or
observation of an
extremely stressful
event.
• Memories of the
even cause anxiety.