Anxiety (Psychosocial Health pt 4) Flashcards
What is anxiety not?
Originally, anxiety was considered to be a unidimensional concept equivalent to arousal.
Arousal
Blend of physiological and psychological activation of an individual’s autonomic nervous system.
Ie. heart rate, sensory alterness/readiness to respond to stimuli.
Neither pleasant nor unpleasant.
What is anxiety?
A discrete emotion resulting from uncertainty about what will happen, typically resulting from potential personal inadequacies.
A multidimensional negative emotion.
A group of disorders that are characterized by fear, nervousness, and worry.
Stress is a mental or physical adjustment to a circumstance.
Physical symptoms include feeling tense, jittery, short of breath, heart racing, sweating, chest pains, leg and arm tingling.
If you consistently worry when there is no threat to the point of not functioning normally, that’s an anxiety disorder.
Symptoms crowd your consciousness, your brain loses perspective and you can’t think straight.
Characteristics of Anxiety
Elicited following an appraisal of a situation/event.
Universal feeling for those who experience it.
Discrete facial expression.
Distinct physiological reaction.
-combination of a number of physiological changes.
The action tendency is to escape or avoid.
Anxiety and Fear
Anxiety is fear, fear is the memory of danger.
-If you have anxiety your brain constantly replays the memory.
-the amygdala sounds the survival call (like in a stress response) but the all-clear signal doesn’t work properly or never comes.
-the brain fails to tell us the problem has passed and we can relax because the prefrontal cortex (control center) doesn’t properly control the amygdala.
Brain scans show that many with anxiety disorder have a smaller than normal area of the prefrontal cortex that send the cease and desist signals.
-so the small prefrontal cortex leaves the oversized amygdala unchecked and it tags too many situations as challenges to survival and burn them into memory.
What makes anxiety so tricky is that survival memories trump existing memories.
Fear isn’t forever…
While we can’t erase the original memory, we can drown it out by creating new memories and reinforcing them.
Called reattribution.
Think of it as learning new memories, but having to study really hard.
Fear isn’t forever, but it can be a learning disorder…
In some ways people with anxiety have a learning disorder because of their memory problems.
-they are not learning new memories.
What helps learning?
more BDNF
when you exercise you get more BDNF which helps neurons grow thick and strong.
Exercise curbs anxiety by…
It provides a distraction by literally putting your mind on something else.
It reduces muscle tension.
-it is a circuit breaker and breaks the negative feedback of the body to the brain.
It builds brain resources.
-it increases serotonin, GABA, BDNF
It teaches a different outcome.
-if you begin to associate the physical symptoms of anxiety (increased HR, heavy breathing, etc.) with something positive, something you can initiate, something you can control, the fear memory fades.
It improves resiliency.
-it improves self-mastery, an important tool against anxiety and depression
-you consciously make the decision to do something for yourself.
It sets you free.
-agoraphobics feel safe in their homes, but in a sense it’s a trap.
-by going out and exploring and moving in the environment you get out of the trap.
Exercise and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
We force the brain to trade in fear memories for neutral or positive ones through cognitive beahvioural therapy (CBT).
-expose paitent to the source of fear in small doses in the company of a therapist.
-when we experience the symptoms without panic the brain goes through cognitive restructuring.
-we build connections in the pre-frontal cortex that calm the amygdala which makes us feel safe and we record this memory.
-add in exercise and we get even more neurotransmitters and BDNF bolstering the circuits.
Research on college students during exams…
Experiment on college students with anxiety.
Half ran on treadmill at 60-90% of HRM, other half walked at one mph.
-both reduced anxiety, but vigorous exercise worked quicker and more effectively.
Only the high intensity group felt less afraid of the physical symptoms of anxiety.
-most likely because the learned physical symptoms such as increased HR don’t necessarily lead to an anxiety attack
-they become more comfortable with the feeling of being aroused and didn’t automatically think the arousal was harmful
-fear cycle broke
-treat the state, but slowly chip away at the trait
Why shouldn’t you just use medication?
In many cases medication is important.
-it may be necessary at first or for long haul.
In some cases, medication may not be necessary and exercise or other therapy can be the first line of attack.
Medication quickly stifles anxiety, but it doesn’t guarantee you learn a different response to fear.
State Anxiety
Associated with worries and apprehension that change form moment to moment.
Intensity of anxiety at a specific time.
Trait Anxiety
Individuals general tendency to experience elevation in state anxiety when exposed to stressors.
Stable part of an individual personality, predisposing him/her/them to perceive situations as physically or psychologically threatening.
Anxiety Components
2 components…
1) cognitive anxiety
2) somatic anxiety
