Anxiety Disorders
Chapter 14, Lecture 3
“Through conditioning, the short list of
naturally painful and frightening events can
multiply into a long list of human fears.”
- David Myers
Anxiety Disorders
Feelings of excessive apprehension and anxiety.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Generalized anxiety disorder
Panic disorder
Phobias
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Symptoms
1. Persistent and uncontrollable tenseness and
apprehension.
2. Autonomic arousal.
3. Inability to identify or avoid the cause of
certain feelings.
Panic Disorder
Symptoms
Minutes-long episodes of intense dread which
may include feelings of terror, chest pains,
choking, or other frightening sensations.
Anxiety is a component of both disorders. It
occurs more in the panic disorder, making
people avoid situations that cause it.
Discovery Health Channel Phobia Study
Top 10 fears (men and women combined):
3 1 1. Fear of snakes
1 3 2. Fear of being buried alive
2 4 3. Fear of heights
2 4. Fear of being bound or tied up
5. Fear of drowning
4
5 5 6. Fear of public speaking
7. Fear of hell
8. Fear of cancer
9. Fear of tornados and hurricanes
10. Fear of fire
Discovery Health Channel Phobia Study
Other results:
We fear giving a speech (36%) more than
meeting new people (12%)
We fear embarrassing ourselves in a sport (44%)
more than asking someone for a date (35%)
We fear being stranded in the ocean (62%) more
than being stranded in the desert (24%)
We fear the IRS (57%) more than God (30%)
Discovery Health Channel Phobia Study
Things we fear equally:
Rats and dentists (58%)
Elevators and flying (52%)
Public speaking and being alone in the woods
(40%)
While the pollsters found the level of fear in
American society to be high, they also
reported that few seek treatment (roughly
11 percent of those with extreme fear).
Let’s see what you fear with Handout 14-10…
When psychologist James Geer asked people the openended question “What do you fear?”, the fifty-one
specific fears on this handout were mentioned more
than once…
The following 11 received the highest intensity ratings:
untimely or early death, death of a loved one, speaking
before a group, snakes, not being a success, being selfconscious, illness or injury to loved ones, making
mistakes, looking foolish, failing a test, suffocating.
Phobias
Marked by a persistent and irrational fear of an
object or situation that disrupts behavior.
Phobias
Marked by a persistent and irrational fear of an
object or situation that disrupts behavior.
Two common phobias:
Agoraphobia – fear of situations where escape is
difficult (i.e., open spaces)
Social Phobia – fear of being scrutinized by others
Other Specific Phobias
Acarophobia Fear of itching or insects that cause
itching
Acrophobia Fear of heights
Gephyrophobia
Fear of bridges
Hemophobia Fear of blood
Aerophobia Fear of flying
Triskaidekaphobia Fear of the number 13
Herpetophobia Fear of reptiles
Mikrophobia
Fear of germs
Ergophobia Fear of work
Other Specific Phobias
Dextrophobia Fear of objects on the right side of the
body
Ailurophobia Fear of cats
Aeronausiphobia
Fear of vomiting
Murophobia Fear of mice
Amaxophobia
Fear of vehicles and/or driving
Numerophobia Fear of numbers
Anthophobia
Fear of flowers
Nyctophobia
Fear of darkness
Anthrophobia
Fear of people
Other Specific Phobias
Anglophobia Fear of England or anything related to
English culture
Androphobia Fear of men
Cacophobia
Fear of ugliness
Claustrophobia Fear of closed spaces
Testophobia
Fear of tests
Syngenesophobia Fear of relatives
Liticaphobia
Fear of lawsuits
Octophobia
Fear of the Figure 8
Pteronophobia Fear of being tickled
Other Specific Phobias
Arachibutyrophobia
Fear of peanut butter sticking
to the roof of your mouth
Coulrophobia
Fear of clowns
Gamophobia
Fear of marriage
Ochlophobia
Fear of crowds
Aquaphobia Fear of water
Ophidiophobia
Fear of snakes
Arachnophobia
Fear of spiders
Ornithophobia
Astraphobia
Fear of birds
Fear of lightning
Other Specific Phobias
Bogyphobia
Fear of the Bogeyman
Allinphobia
Fear of garlic
Allodoxaphobia Fear of opinions
Amnesiphobia
Fear of amnesia
Phonophobia
Fear of speaking aloud
Brontophobia
Fear of thunder
Pyrophobia
Fear of fire
Thanatophobia
Fear of death
Cynophobia
Fear of dogs
Trichophobia
Fear of hair
Other Specific Phobias
Dementophobia
Fear of insanity
Xenophobia
Fear of strangers
Genuphobia
Fear of knees
Hellenologophobia
Fear of Greek terms
Aulophobia Fear of flutes
Chromophobia
Fear of money
Didaskaleinophobia
Euphobia
Fear of going to school
Fear of hearing good news
Ideophobia
Fear of ideas
Panophobia
Fear of everything
Other Specific Phobias
Venustraphobia
Fear of beautiful women
Kosmikophobia
Fear of cosmic phenomenon
Lachanophobia
Fear of vegetables
Peladophobia
Fear of bald people
Samhainophobia
Fear of Halloween
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia
Fear of long words
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Persistence of unwanted thoughts (obsessions)
and urges to engage in senseless rituals
(compulsions) that cause distress.
Brain Imaging
A PET scan of the brain
of a person with
Obsessive-Compulsive
Disorder (OCD). High
metabolic activity (red)
in the frontal lobe areas
are involved with
directing attention.
Brain image of an OCD
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Four or more weeks of the following symptoms
constitute post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD):
1. Haunting memories
4. Jumpy anxiety
5. Sleep problems
Bettmann/ Corbis
2. Nightmares
3. Social withdrawal
Resilience to PTSD
Only about 10% of women and 20% of men
react to traumatic situations and develop PTSD.
Holocaust survivors show remarkable resilience
against traumatic situations.
All major religions of the world suggest that
surviving a trauma leads to the growth of an
individual.
Explaining Anxiety Disorders
Freud suggested that we repress our
painful and intolerable ideas, feelings,
and thoughts, resulting in anxiety.
The Learning Perspective
John Coletti/ Stock, Boston
Learning theorists suggest
that fear conditioning leads
to anxiety. This anxiety then
becomes associated with
other objects or events
(stimulus generalization)
and is reinforced.
The Learning Perspective
Investigators believe that fear responses are
inculcated through observational learning.
Young monkeys develop fear when they watch
other monkeys who are afraid of snakes.
The Biological Perspective
Natural Selection has led our ancestors to learn
to fear snakes, spiders, and other animals.
Therefore, fear preserves the species.
Twin studies suggest that our genes may be
partly responsible for developing fears and
anxiety. Twins are more likely to share phobias.
The Biological Perspective
Generalized anxiety,
panic attacks, and even
OCD are linked with
brain circuits like the
anterior cingulate cortex.
Anterior Cingulate Cortex
of an OCD patient.
Homework
Read p.608-611
“Although nothing justifies terror and
victimization, those who have suffered, [Staub]
reports, often develop a greater-than-usual
sensitivity to suffering and empathy for others
who suffer, an increased sense of responsibility,
and an enlarged capacity for caring.”
- David Myers