Anxiety Disorders Flashcards
fear vs. anxiety
fear: emotion, response to something, real and present danger
anxiety: apprehension about anticipated events
- physical and mental, difficult to control their thoughts in this state, halo effect, good up to a certain extent, physiological changes: sweat, trembling, pulse racing
classification of anxiety disorders
splitting movement has divided anxiety disorders
- neuroses => depression & anxiety as separate categories
core symptom of anxiety disorders: intense worry disproportionate to actual danger
rise of interest
ASYLUMS: anxiety could not fit into that equation
FREUD: developed psychoanalysis to help us understand mental illness/disorders
panic disorder
WHAT? recurrent, unexpected panic attacks lasting around 10 minutes, may lead to avoidance strategies
SYMPTOMS:palpitations, pounding heart, shortness of breath, chest pain, sweating, shaking, dizziness. nausea
social anxiety disorder
intense persistent fear associated with performance for interpersonal interactions, may disappear if performed privately
medicalized??
specific/simple phobia
persistent, excessive fears with an object/situation, not selective, may be considered irrational or unreasonable, daily life consumed with avoidance
agoraphobia
extreme fear about situations where escape is difficult
not about crowded spaces but DISTANCE TO SAFETY
“home-bodies, aisle-huggers”, most debilitating
generalized anxiety disorder
WHAT? “chronic worriers” broad anxiety, unclear source, not fixed on a specific object or situation, no anxiety attacks
SYMPTOMS
disturbances in sleep, irritable, difficulty concentrating, restlessness, chronic, low-key, long lasting
CONTROVERSITY
low diagnostic reliability, common in women, overlap with others
explanations for anxiety disorders
EVOLUTIONARY: anxiety is adaptive in some places
FREUD: we get anxious when we’re about to do something we shouldn’t do
BEHAVIOURAL: anxiety = learned through condition, reinforcement
LIFE EVENTS
GENETICS: genetic makeup? brain defect?
treatment for anxiety disorders
PSYCHOTHERAPIES: talk therapy, exposure therapy, relaxation techniques, CBT
ANXIOLYTICS: benzodiazepines, work on immediate symptoms, calming, may lose effectiveness, addictive, doesn’t alter thinking
benzo backlash
“mothers little helper”
1970s: became the most prescribed, boom in demand = black market
highly addictive => severe reduction in prescription rates
1990s: medical model dominating
comorbidity
when people are diagnosed with more than one mental disorder
anxiety & depression, anxiety & substance abuse disorders, anxiety & mood disorders = high cormorbidity
