1. Abnormal Psychology Mr. Quirion
Anxiety Disorders
Abnormal Psychology
Mr. Quirion

2. Anxiety What distinguishes fear from anxiety?
Fear is a state of immediate alarm in response to a serious, known threat to one's well- being
Anxiety is a state of alarm in response to a vague sense of being in danger
Both have the same physiological features – increase in respiration, perspiration, muscle tension, etc.

3. Anxiety Disorders Most common mental disorders in the U.S.
In any given year, 18% of the adult population in the U.S. experience an anxiety disorder
Close to 29% develop one of the disorders at some point in their lives
Only one-fifth of these individuals seek treatment
Most individuals with one anxiety disorder also suffer from a second disorder (comorbidity)

4. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
OCD is a condition characterized by patterns of persistent, unwanted thoughts and behaviors.
The obsessive component consists of thoughts, images or impulses that recur or persist despite a person’s efforts to suppress them.

5. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Made up of two components:
Obsessions
Persistent thoughts, ideas, impulses, or images that seem to invade a person's consciousness
Compulsions
Repetitive and rigid behaviors or mental acts that people feel they must perform to prevent or reduce anxiety

6. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
The compulsive component are repetitive, purposeful acts performed according to certain private “rules,” in response to an obsession.
Many characters on TV and in movies have OCD: Jack Nicolson in As Good As It Gets; Monica on Friends; Monk
Others?

7. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Diagnosis is called for when symptoms:
Feel excessive or unreasonable
Cause great distress
Take up much time
Interfere with daily functions

8. Normal Routines When do normal routines become abnormal?
Most people find it comforting to follow set routines when they carry out everyday activities, and, in fact, 40 percent become irritated if they must depart from their routines. (Adapted from Kanner, 2005, 1998, 1995.)

9. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Between 1% and 2% of U.S. population suffer from OCD in a given year; as many as 4% over a lifetime
It is equally common in men and women and among different racial and ethnic groups
It is estimated that more than 40% of those with OCD seek treatment
Was once among the least understood of the psychological disorders
In recent decades, however, researchers have begun to learn more about it
The most influential explanations are from the psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive, and biological models

10. OCD: The Psychodynamic Perspective
Anxiety disorders develop when children come to fear their id impulses and use ego defense mechanisms to lessen their anxiety
Id impulses = obsessive thoughts
Ego defenses = counter-thoughts or compulsive actions

11. OCD: The Cognitive Perspective
Cognitive theorists begin by pointing out that everyone has repetitive, unwanted, and intrusive thoughts
People with OCD blame themselves for normal (although repetitive and intrusive) thoughts and expect that terrible things will happen as a result

12. OCD: The Cognitive Perspective
If everyone has intrusive thoughts, why do only some people develop OCD?
People with OCD tend to:
Be more depressed than others
Have very high standards of conduct and morality
Believe thoughts are equal to actions and are capable of bringing harm
Believe that they can, and should, have perfect control over their thoughts and behaviors

13. OCD: The Biological Perspective
Two recent lines of research provide more direct evidence:
Abnormal serotonin activity
Evidence that serotonin-based antidepressants reduce OCD symptoms;
Abnormal brain structure and functioning
Frontal cortex may be too active, letting through troublesome thoughts

14. Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Generalized anxiety disorder is a psychological problem characterized by persistent and pervasive feelings of anxiety, without any external cause.
May experience times when your worries don't completely consume you, but you still feel rather anxious
May feel on edge about many or all aspects of your life
May have a general sense that something bad is about to happen, even when there's no apparent danger.
May not remember when you last felt relaxed or at ease.
GAD often begins at an early age, and the signs and symptoms may develop slowly.

15. Quotes About GAD
“I always thought I was just a worrier. I’d feel keyed up and unable to relax. At times it would come and go, and at times it would be constant. It could go on for days. I’d worry about what I was going to fix for a dinner party, or what would be a great present for somebody. I just couldn’t let something go.”

16. Quotes About GAD
“I’d have terrible sleeping problems. There were times I’d wake up wired in the middle of the night. I had trouble concentrating, even reading the newspaper or a novel. Sometimes I’d feel a little lightheaded. My heart would race or pound. And that would make me worry more. I was always imagining things were worse than they really were. When I got a stomachache, I’d think it was an ulcer.”

17. Quotes About GAD
“I was worried all the time about everything. It didn't matter that there were no signs of problems, I just got upset. I was having trouble falling asleep at night, and I couldn't keep my mind focused at work. I felt angry at my family all the time.”

18. Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Patients with GAD report feeling “free-floating anxiety”
It is more commonly found in Western cultures instead of Eastern cultures…why?
The disorder usually first starts to appear in childhood or adolescence
Only 25% of GAD sufferers are currently in treatment

19. GAD Causes
Biological: Having close relatives with GAD increases likelihood of developing the disorder to 15%
Biological: GAD responds to medications that increase GABA (an inhibitory neurotransmitter)
Sociocultural: GAD is most likely to develop in people faced with social conditions that truly are dangerous
There are higher rates of GAD in lower SES groups

20. GAD: Cognitive Therapies
Therapists begin by educating clients about the role of worrying in GAD and have them observe their bodily arousal and cognitive responses across life situations….such as?
In turn, clients become increasingly skilled at identifying their worrying and their misguided attempts to control their lives by worrying
With continued practice, clients are expected to see the world as less threatening, to adopt more constructive ways of coping, and to worry less
Research has begun to indicate that a concentrated focus on worrying is a helpful addition to traditional cognitive therapy

21. Phobias

22. Phobias http://www.phobia-fear-release.com/phobia-list.html
image/public/phobia_mentalfloss.jpg

24. Phobias Fear is a normal and common experience
How do common fears differ from phobias?
More intense and persistent fear
Greater desire to avoid the feared object or situation
Distress that interferes with functioning

25. Specific Phobias Persistent fears of specific objects or situations
When exposed to the object or situation, sufferers experience immediate fear
Most common: Phobias of specific animals or insects, heights, enclosed spaces, thunderstorms, and blood

26. Specific Phobias
Each year close to 9% of all people in the U.S. have symptoms of specific phobia
Many suffer from more than one phobia at a time
Women outnumber men at least 2:1
Vast majority of people with a specific phobia do NOT seek treatment

27. What Causes Specific Phobias?
A behavioral-evolutionary explanation: Preparedness Hypothesis
Some specific phobias are much more common than others
Theorists argue that there is a species-specific predisposition to develop certain fears
Called “preparedness” because human beings are theoretically more “prepared” to acquire some phobias than others
Model explains why some phobias (snakes, spiders) are more common than others (meat, houses)

28. How Are Specific Phobias Treated?
Systematic desensitization
Teach relaxation skills
Create fear hierarchy
Pair relaxation with the feared objects or situations
Since relaxation is incompatible with fear, the relaxation response is thought to substitute for the fear response
Two types:
In vivo desensitization (live)
Covert desensitization (imagined)

29. How Are Specific Phobias Treated?
Other behavioral treatments:
Flooding
Forced non-gradual exposure
Modeling
Therapist confronts the feared object while the fearful person observes
The key to success is ACTUAL contact with the feared object or situation