Mod 48 Anxiety Disorders
Obj 1 Definition
Distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety
Obj 2 Generalized or Panic Disorders
Generalized anxiety disorder: feel continually tense, apprehensive & in a state of autonomic nervous system
arousal
*worried bad things will happen, jittery, muscular tension, agitation & sleeplessness
**Cannot identify the cause, therefore, can’t deal w/it
free-floating
often accompanied by depression
can lead to ulcers & high blood pressure
Panic disorder: unpredictable, minutes long episodes of intense dread–terror, chest pain, choking or frightening
sensations
1/75 of disorder will experience a panic attack
smokers 2 to 4x more likely to be at risk for panic attack (nicotine)
**come to fear the fear itself AND avoid the situation where the panic attack occurred–develop agoraphobia
(affects women more)
Obj 3 Phobias
def: persistent, irrational fear & avoidance of a specific object or situation
**disrupts behavior
Social phobias: intense fear of being scrutinized by others
sweating, trembling, diarrhea when being out or speaking in public
Obj 4 OCD
def: anxiety disorders characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsession) and/or actions (compulsions)
Compulsive behav–checking, ordering, cleaning, lining things up
Starts during late teens or twenties (men)
Howard Hughes & germ phobias
Obj 5 PTSD
def: haunting memories, nightmares, social w/drawal, jumpy, anxious and/or insomnia; lingers 4 weeks or more
(usual time has to pass after the incident & start of symptoms)
More traumatic the experience–more adverse long-term outcome tends to be
**limbic sys floods brain w/stress hormones (cortisol)
Combat vets, accident/disaster survivors, sexual assault victims
Children of war-zone and/or violent neighborhoods
Their basic trust erodes, trouble sleeping, nightmares & sense of hopelessness
**learned helplessness can lead to PTSD
1/6 Iraq vets have experienced PTSD, depression and/or anxiety
15% of all Vietnam Vets
After 9/11, 8.5% of Manhattan experienced PTSD–closer to Towers, higher the % went up
Some critics say it’s over diagnosed–over estimate what is “traumatic”
By talking to survivors/victims right after trauma, find “revisiting” it ineffective & harmful
Also survivor resiliency: some “bounce back” after trauma
Only 1/10 women and ½0 men get disorder after suffering a trauma
what about Holocaust survivors & those from “Killing Fields”???
Tedeschi & Calhoun–post traumatic growth: greater appreciation of life, relationships, increased strength, richer
spiritual life after a trauma
many religions believe that suffering can transform us
Obj 6: Causes/Explanations
Freud–anxiety caused by repressed feelings/desires/conflicts
Learning Perspective:
Generalized anxiety actually classically conditioned fear
ie–take rats & expose to unpredictable electric shocks
Become anxious
Generalize anxiety to even being in the lab
PTSD–feel anxious when JUST reminded of trauma
cues trigger panic attack
Stimulus generalization: fear of heights leads/generalizes to fear of flying
**reinforce fear by avoiding fear and stimulus that causes it
Ie–compulsive behav like hand washing (reduces anxiety)
Observational Learning
Seeing others exhibit fear
Baby monkeys fear snakes by watching their parents be afraid of snakes
Biological Perspective
Natural Selection
Biological prepared to fear certain things: spiders, snakes, certain animals
Fear of flying goes back to both fear of heights & confinement
Also, don’t learn to fear all things (contrapreparedness)
Genes
Anxiety/fearfulness does run in families (identical twins can share same phobias)
Brain
**anterior cingulate cortex: region that monitors our actions & checks for errors; seems to be hyperactive in
OCD patients
**also parts of brain involved in impulse control & habitual behavior could be over aroused
Fearful experiences create “circuits” w/in amygdala (fight or flight)
**treat w/some forms of antidepressants to “calm down” parts of brain