Transcript Anxiety Disorders

Imagine if we treated everyone like
we treat the mentally ill.
• What was the statement suggesting?
• Why types of mental illnesses are
seen as “excuses”?
• Fear is an Anxiety Disorder
• We have nothing to fear but fear itself!! FDR
• Phobias: Irrational fear is a part of our general
psyche as normal human beings. Women in particular,
admit to having more fears than men.
• Biological research confirms that we are born with
fear (amygdala). It is nature’s way of protecting us.
• When the amygdala system overreacts we have panic
attacks. When this happens, rational analysis through
frontal cortex is no longer possible.
• It is the human’s response to danger. We
are preconditioned to be fearful of
heights, spiders, and snakes.
• “flight or fight” instinct
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
SPIDERS = arachnophobia
PEOPLE and/or SOCIAL SITUATIONS = sociophobia
FLYING = aerophobia
OPEN SPACES = agoraphobia
CONFINED SPACES = claustrophobia
HEIGHTS = acrophobia
CANCER = carcinophobia
THUNDERSTORMS = brontophobia
DEATH = necrophobia
HEART DISEASE = cardiophobia
• As Good As it Gets
• Rain Man
• Real Life: Living with OCD
• Worries, doubts, superstitious beliefs all are common in
everyday life. However, when they become so excessive
such as hours of hand washing or make no sense at all such
as driving around and around the block to check that an
accident didn't occur then a diagnosis of OCD is made. In
OCD, it is as though the brain gets stuck on a particular
thought or urge and just can't let go. People with OCD often
say the symptoms feel like a case of mental hiccups that
won't go away. OCD is a medical brain disorder that causes
problems in information processing. It is not your fault or the
result of a "weak" or unstable personality.
• Before the arrival of modern medications and cognitive
behavior therapy, OCD was generally thought to be
untreatable
• Today, is completely curable in some individuals and the
others, where it is not curable, are able to achieve
meaningful and long-term symptom relief with treatment.
Common Obsessions:
Contamination fears of germs,
dirt, etc.
Imagining having harmed self
or others
Imagining losing control or
aggressive urges
Intrusive sexual thoughts or
urges
Excessive religious or moral
doubt
Common Compulsions:
Forbidden thoughts
Ordering/arranging
Washing
Repeating
Checking
Touching
Counting
A need to have things "just so" Hoarding or saving
• OCD symptoms can occur in people of all ages. Not
all Obsessive-Compulsive behaviours represent an
illness. Some rituals (e.g., bedtime songs, religious
practices) are a welcome part of daily life. Normal
worries, such as contamination fears, may increase
during times of stress, such as when someone in the
family is sick or dying. Only when symptoms
persist, make no sense, cause much distress, or
interfere with functioning do they need clinical
attention.
• Research suggests that OCD involves problems in
communication between the front part of the brain
(the orbital cortex) and deeper structures (the basal
ganglia).
• These brain structures use the chemical messenger
serotonin. It is believed that insufficient levels of
serotonin are prominently involved in OCD. Drugs
that increase the brain concentration of serotonin
often help improve OCD symptoms.
• The most successful treatments for children with OCD are
behavioral therapy and medication. Cognitive-behavioral
psychotherapy (CBT) helps children learn to change their thoughts
and feelings by first changing their behavior. CBT involves
exposure, or exposing the child to his fears to decrease his anxiety
about it. For example, a child who is afraid of dirt might be
exposed to something he considers dirty until he no longer fears it.
• For exposure to be successful, it is often combined with response
prevention, in which the child's rituals or avoidance behaviors are
blocked. For example, the child who fears dirt must not only stay
in contact with the dirty object, he also must not be allowed to
wash repeatedly. Some treatment plans involve having the child
"bossing back" the OCD, giving it a nasty nickname, and
visualizing it as something the child can control.
Knowledge
- In your own words define/describe: cognitive behaviour
psychotherapy (CBT), exposure, and “bossing back.”
Thinking/Inquiry
• Write a half page reflection on what a daily routine would be
like for someone living with OCD. Include thoughts that might
occur and the subsequent behaviours (Examples of routines:
getting ready for school/work, grocery shopping, driving to the
store, writing a test, etc.) Consider the emotional/social
implications of living with OCD.
• Read page 415 (IN FOCUS: Alienation and Mental Illness)How
can education (school/media) help to reduce the stigma
attached to mental illness?