Lesson 1- Anxiety Disorders LECTURE 2: PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

 Are psychological disorders where the primary symptom is anxiety, or a feeling of impending doom or disaster from a specific or unknown source.  Anxiety disorders are characterized by mood symptoms of tension or agitation; bodily symptoms of sweating or increased heart rate and blood pressure as well as cognitive symptoms such as worry or rumination (repetitively focusing on the symptoms or causes of distress).  Anxiety disorders include panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder. ANXIETY DISORDERS

 Panic Disorder The experience of repeated attacks of intense anxiety accompanied by:  severe chest pain  Tightness of muscles  Choking  Sweating  Or other acute symptoms Symptoms can last anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours DIAGNOSED AS…

 Generalized Anxiety Disorder  Symptoms must occur for at least 6 months and include chronic anxiety not associated with any specific situation or object  The individual frequently experiences:  Sleep problems  Difficulty concentratin g  Irritability  Tenseness  Being hypervigilant SIMILAR TO PANIC DISORDER HOWEVER,

 Phobias  Intense, irrational fear responses to specific stimuli  A fear turns into a phobia when it provokes a compelling, irrational desire to avoid a dreaded situation or object, disrupting the person’s daily life  Nearly 5% of the population suffers from some mild form of phobic disorder PHOBIAS ARE…

 Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)  Compound disorder of thought and behavior  Characterized by obsessions and compulsions  Obsessions are persistent, intrusive, & unwanted thoughts that a person cannot get out of their mind  Compulsions are ritualistic behaviors performed repeatedly in order to reduce the tension created by the obsession OCD IS A…

 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)  Some trauma experienced (natural disaster, war, violent crime) by the victim  Trauma is re- experienced through realistic nightmares and flashbacks  Victims may experience reduced involvement with the outside world  General arousal is also experienced characterized by hyper alertness, guilt, and difficulty concentrating PTSD IS A RESULT OF…

 Freud assumed that anxiety disorders are symptoms of submerged mental energy that derives from intolerable impulses that were repressed during childhood.  Learning theorists, drawing on research in which rats are given unpredictable shocks, link general anxiety with classical conditioning of fear.  Some fears arise from stimulus generalizations, such as when a person who fears heights after a fall also comes to fear planes. LEARNING AND BIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES OF ANXIETY DISORDERS DEVELOPMENT

 Through observational learning, someone might also learn fear by seeing others display their own fears.  Research suggest humans might be biologically prepared to develop certain fears.  Compulsive acts typically are exaggerations of behaviors that contributed to our species’ evolution. DEVELOPMENT CONTINUED…

 Research shows the anxiety response is genetically influenced  PET scans of individuals with OCD reveal excessive activity in the region of the brain called the anterior cingulate cortex.  Some anti-depressant drugs dampen fear-circuit activity in the amygdala, thus reducing OCD behavior. DEVELOPMENT CONTINUED…

 Maitland, L. L. (2003). Psychology: five steps to a 5 on the AP exam. New York: McGraw-Hill. REFERENCES