Exam 4: Anxiety Disorders Flashcards
most common type of psychiatric disorder
lifetime prevalence ~30&
women twice as likely to experience than men
patients with this have up to 90% comorbidity with other disorders
anxiety disorder
3 major categories of anxiety disorders reclassified by DSM-5
- anxiety disorders
- OCD and related disorders
- trauma related disorders like PTSD
anxiety symptoms
- panic episodes
- phobic avoidance of anxiety-eliciting stimuli
- intrusive thoughts or compulsive behaviors
- damaging negative thinking patterns
anxiety manifests as…
restlessness fatigue excessive anxiety and worrying inc muscle aches or soreness impaired concentration irritability difficulty sleeping
what happens in brain - anxiety
activation of sympathetic nervous system, inc HR, sweating, fight or flight
-intensity varies from felings of vague discomfort to intense sensatios of terror
why from evolutionary standpoint is a little anxiety beneficial
keeps you alert, protective
fear vs anxiety
fear: emotional response to current threat
anxiety: apprehension about possible future events
eustress
low anxiety levels improves performance
distress
high anxiety levels impair performance
3-component model of anxiety
cyclical interaction of body responses, ineffective behaviors, and upsetting thoughts
- high anxiety can lead to failure, maladaptive coping strategies exacerbate anxiety
can all exacerbate eachother
or you are so overwhelmed that you do nothing which will make it worse
generalize anxiety disorder (GAD)
- individuals show signs of constant worry and continuously predict, anticipate, or imagine dreadful events
- life is generally stressful, even minor events provoke worry (forgot a pencil even though have a laptop)
-chronic anxiety reduces the individual’s performance on many tasks and decreases pleasure
things no longer fun - chronic sympathetic activation
panic attacks
- individual experiences all effects of a fear reaction without a threatening stimulus
- strong arousal of sympathetic nervous system
can be mistaken for heart attack
mental and physical symptoms: chest pain, hands numb, inc HR
panic disorder
individual experiences both panic attacks and anticipatory anxiety
- recurring unpredictable panic attacks
- range from many times a day to one or twice a year
anticipatory anxiety
over the possibility of having an attack in a place that is not safe
-impairs daily activity, do not want to go out or do anything
social anxiety disorder (SAD)
persistent fear and avoidance of social/performance situations without justification
-onset at young age, half develop symptoms by age 11
characteristics of social anxiety disorder
- fear of situations where you may be judged
- worrying about embarassing yourself
- intense fear of talking with strangers
- sweating, trembling, shaky voice
- fear being center of attention
- spending time finding flaws after an event
agoraphobia
fear of public places
anxiety being in an unsafe place
- these ppl have limited lives bc they never leave safety of their homes
- inc anxiety in everyday situations
situations ppl with agoraphobia avoid
- shopping malls
- buses, trains, subways
- wide streets
- waiting in line
- crowds
- elevators