Transcript Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety Disorders
Generalized Anxiety
Panic Disorder
Phobia
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Fear v. Anxiety
• Fear
– Immediate alarm reaction to dangerous or
life threatening emergencies
• Anxiety
– A mood state characterized by negative
emotion, tension with no specific object or
event that is feared
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
• Definition
– A continuous and generalized feeling of
apprehension and pending disaster
• Criteria
– Major anxiety for 6 months
– Not attached to a specific fear
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
• Symptoms
– Excessive anxiety
– Restlessness
– Jittery
– Rapid breathing
– Heart palpitations
– Edgy
– Hot flashes or
chills
– Difficulty
concentrating
– Difficulty sleeping
Phobias
• Definition
– Unreasonable specific fear of an object or
situation
• Criteria
– Interferes with functioning
– Motivated to avoid the feared stimulus
Phobias
• Symptoms
– Nervous
– Rapid breathing
– Fear
Panic Disorder
• Definition
– Severe unexpected panic
– Feelings of loss of control or danger
• Criteria
– Recurrent unexpected panic attacks
– Develop anxiety about having another
attack
Panic Disorder
• Symptoms
– Tingling in the hands/feet
– Shortness of breath
– Hot & cold flashes
– Faintness
– Dizziness
– Feelings of unreality
Pathway of Panic Attacks
Biological Vulnerability
Stress
(Initial Panic Attack) False Alarm
Association with cues
Pathway of Panic Attacks
Psychological Vulnerability
Involuntary physical or cognitive cues
Possible development of “agoraphobic”
avoidance
Obsessive-Compulsive Scale
(1)Almost never applies to me
(2)Applies to me sometimes
(3)Applies to me often
(4)Applies to me almost always
1. When I find myself waiting for someone or
something, I count things (floor tiles, ceiling
tiles, and so on)
2. After I lock a door, I will check and recheck
to make sure it is locked.
3. I find it difficult to throw things out
4. I get upset when people move my personal
possessions
5. When given a handout in class, I doodle on it
and fill in or shade many of the letters
6. When I wake up in the morning I follow the
same ritual
7. I make to-do lists and scratch each item as I
accomplish it
8. I tend to be a perfectionist
9. I have to budget my money
10. When given a task to do, I complete it by
myself or closely supervise the work
What does it all mean?
10-15
16-20
21-30
31-40
Not very anxious at all
Somewhat anxious, but it keeps you
motivated
Anxious often; you may find it hard
to relax at times
Very anxious; you may want to learn
some relaxation techniques
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• Definition
– Obsession
• Repetitive and unwanted thought, ideas,
images
– Compulsion
• repetitive and rigid activities that people feel
compelled to do
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• Criteria
– Significant distress
– Impaired functioning
– Difficulty dismissing
– UNWANTED
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• Symptoms
– Rapid heartbeats
– Jittery
– Irritability
– Difficulty concentrating
• Examples
– Hand washing
– Counting
– Hording behavior (don’t throw anything away)
Statistics
• Approximately 40 million American adults
have some form of anxiety disorder
• Approximately 6 million American adults have
Panic Disorder
• Approximately 2.2 million American adults
have OCD
• OCD is equal among males and females