Anxiety Disorders
By Dalton Roach, Justin Robinson, Becca
Hurst, Chris Richmond, and Anthony Dever
What are Anxiety Disorders?
The class of mental disorder in which anxiety
is the predominant feature.
Last at least 6
months

Often occurs with
other mental or
physical illnesses

How Many Do They Affect?
About 40 million
Americans over 18
years of age are
affected by anxiety
disorders

Approximately
18% of population

Variations

General Anxiety Disorder

Phobic Disorders

Panic Disorders

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Generalized Anxiety
Disorder
by
Chris Richmond
What Is It?
Constant worry or obsession about small or large
concerns
Restlessness and feeling keyed up on edge
Fatigue
Difficulty concentrating
Irritability
Muscle tension/aches
Trembling, feeling twitchy or being easily startled
Trouble sleeping
Sweating, nausea or diarrhea
Shortness of breath or rapid heartbeat

Risk Factors
Complications
Being Female
Childhood trauma
Illness
Stress
Personality
Genetics
Substance Abuse


Depression
Substance Abuse
Trouble Sleeping
Digestive Problems
Headaches
Teeth Grinding
Diagnosis
Phobias
Panic Disorder
Depression
Substance
Abuse
Post-traumatic
Stress Disorder

Treatments
Pharmacotherapy
Antidepressants
Buspirone
Benzodiazepines
Psychotherapy

Phobias
by
Justin Robinson
Introduction
A phobia is defined as an irrational, intense
fear of an object or situation that poses little or
no actual danger.

More than 10% of Americans suffer from some
type of phobia.

Causes of Phobias
Sometimes it is difficult to know
what causes a specific phobia for a
person.

It is said to occur in children and
sometimes a childhood fear stays
with the person into adulthood.

Traumatic experiences can cause
phobias and sometimes phobias can
just occur without any significant
experience to cause it.

4 Main Types of Phobias
Animals – dogs, spiders, snakes, birds, etc.

Medical – blood, doctors, dentists, needles, or other
medical objects.

Natural Environment – storms, water, or other natural
objects.

Situational – heights, driving, elevators, cooking, or other
specific situations.

Symptoms





Terror: A persistent and overwhelming
fear of the object or situation.
Physical Symptoms: Dizziness,
shaking, palpitations.
Obsessive Thoughts: Difficulty
thinking about anything other than the
fear.
Desire to Flee: An intense instinct to
leave the situation.
Anticipatory Anxiety: Persistent
worrying about upcoming events that
involve the phobic object or situation.
Statistics
Americans by Millions
Anxiety Disorders
19.1
Social Phobia
5.2
Agoraphobia
3.2
Specific Phobias
6.2
Treatment and Cure

The most effective treatment is what is called
exposure therapy, which means to expose
the individual to the fear in steps and
repeatedly facing the fear until the individual
is no longer afraid of that specific object or
situation.
Panic Disorder
by
Becca Hurst
Panic Disorder
The sudden occurrence of multiple
psychological and physiological symptoms that
contribute to a feeling of stark terror.





Approximately 8% to 12% of the U.S. population
reports having occasional panic attacks.
Usually happening in a period of intense stress.
Women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with
panic attack than men.
Hereditary component to panic disorder.
Characteristics

Panic Attack

Lasts a few minutes

Shortness of breath

Heart palpitations

Sweating

Dizziness

Fear one is going crazy

Fear one is about to die
Types
•
•
Panic Disorder is only diagnosed if a panic
attack is recurrent unexpected attacks and
reports significant dread and anxiety about
another attack
Agoraphobia – specific phobic involving a fear
of venturing into public places.
–
Not afraid of public places but fear of having a
panic attack in public
Treatment

Medications



Examples: Klonopin, Ativan, Valium, and Xanax.
Immediately calming and reduce intensity of
symptoms. Side effect: drowsiness.
Psychotherapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy

Supportive therapy

Exploratory therapy
Obsessive Compulsive
Disorder
by
Anthony
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Defined as: An anxiety disorder in
which people have unwanted and
repeating thoughts, feelings, Ideas
sensations (obsessions) or
behaviors that make them feel
driven to do something.
Anthony
Categories of OCD





Anthony
Washers: Afraid of contamination. Have cleaning and
hand-washing compulsions.
Checkers: Repeatedly check things that they associate
with harm or danger.
Doubters & Sinners: Afraid that if everything is not
perfect or done just right something bad will happen or
they will be punished.
Counters & Arrangers: Obsessed with order and
symmetry.
Hoarders: Fear something bad will happen if they throw
something away. They hoard things they don’t need or
use.
Treatments

Medications: SSRI’S





Citalopram
Fluoxetine
Fluvoxamine
Paroxetine
Sertraline
(Celexa)
(Prozac)
(Luvox)
(Paxil)
(Zoloft)
Exposure and Response Prevention
Cognitive Therapy (CBT)
Anthony
Conclusion
Anxiety disorders are
treatable
Limitations of study
Questions?

References
Melinda Smith, M.A., Robert Segal, M.A., and Jeanne Segal, Ph.D. (2012).
Fears and Phobias. Retrieved April 18, 2012 from,
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/phobia_symptoms_types_treatment.htm
Fritscher, Lisa. (2012) Phobias. Retrieved April 18, 2012, from
http://phobias.about.com/
http://www.phobias-help.com/
Cape, J.; Chan, M.; Lovell, K.; Leibowitz, J.; Kendall, T. (2011) Management of
generalized anxiety disorder; the updated NICE guideline. Healthcare
Counseling & Psychotherapy Journal 11(2), 12-6.
Dalrymple, K. (2007) Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Generalized
Social Anxiety Disorder. Behavior Modification 31(5), 543-568.
Depression and generalized anxiety disorder. (2009). Formulary, 44(1), 28.
Generalized anxiety disorder: People who worry about everything--and
nothing in particular--have several treatment options. (2011). Harvard Mental
Health Letter 27(12), 1-3.
References
National institute of mental health. (2009). Retrieved from
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/anxiety-disorders/nimhanxiety.pdf
Schacter, D. L., Gilbert, D. T., & Wegner, D. M. (2011).Introducing psychology. (1st
Ed. ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.
Understanding anxiety disorders and effective fyi treatment [Web log message].
(2010, June). Retrieved from
http://www.apapracticecentral.org/outreach/anxiety-disorders.pdf