Anxiety disorders: Psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent

anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Disorder in which a person is continually tense,
apprehensive, and in a state of autonomic nervous system arousal.
Symptoms:

Persistent worrying
Fatigue

Muscle tension
Sweating, nausea,
headaches

Treatment:
The two main treatments for generalized anxiety disorder are
psychotherapy and medications such as antidepressants,
buspirone, and benzodiazepines

Panic Disorder: Marked by unpredictable minutes-long episodes of intense

dread in which a person experiences terror and accompanying chest pain, choking,
or other frightening sensations.
Symptoms:

Sense of impending
doom or danger
Rapid heart rate
Sweating
Hyperventilation

Chills/hot flashes
Nausea
Chest pain
Headache
Dizziness

Phobias: An anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear

and avoidance of a specific object or situation.
Specific phobias
Social phobia
Fear of open spaces (agoraphobia).

Treatment:
Psychotherapy and medication (SSRIs, SNRIs, Benzodiazepines)
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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Characterized by haunting
memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, and/or insomnia that
lingers for four or more weeks after a traumatic experience.
o Symptoms:
PTSD symptoms are generally grouped into four types: intrusive
memories, avoidance, negative changes in thinking and mood, or
changes in emotional reactions.
o Treatment:
Cognitive (talking) therapy.
Exposure (virtual reality) therapy.
Medication (Antidepressants/anti-anxiety medication)
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Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD): Characterized by unwanted
repetitive thoughts (obsessions) and/or actions (compulsions).
Symptoms:
OCD obsessions are repeated, persistent and unwanted urges or
images that cause distress or anxiety.
OCD compulsions are repetitive behaviors that you feel driven to
perform. These repetitive behaviors are meant to prevent or reduce
anxiety related to your obsessions or prevent something bad from
happening.
Treatment:
Treatment for OCD helps get the symptoms under control so you
can function in daily life. The treatment usually doesnt completely
eliminate the disorder.
Psychotherapy: A type of therapy called exposure and response
prevention (ERP) is the most effective treatment. This therapy
involves gradually exposing you to a feared object or obsession.
Some antidepressants have been approved by the FDA to treat
OCD.
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Learning Perspective:

Classical Conditioning: Anxiety develops when bad events happen

unpredictably and uncontrollably, conditioning the person to learn
helplessness, thus causing anxiety about future events.
Operant Conditioning: Stimulus generalization causes anxiety in a variety of
situations that are similar to the initial anxiety causing encounter.
Reinforcement helps maintain anxiety. Avoiding or escaping the feared
situation reduces anxiety, thus reinforcing the phobic behavior.

Observational Learning: Parents can inadvertently transfer their fears to their

children. We learn some of our fears from observing the fear responses of
others. *shock analogy
Cognition: Our interpretations and irrational beliefs can also cause feelings of
anxiety. The way we interpret sounds in the house determines whether or not
we panic. People with anxiety disorder are hyper-vigilant, often jumping to
the worst conclusion. Anxiety often comes when people cannot switch off
intrusive thoughts, and they perceive a loss of control and a sense of
helplessness.
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Biological Perspective:

Natural Selection: Humans are biologically predisposed to fear threatening

situations or things. Many of our fears (snakes, spiders, heights, etc.) can be
explained through the evolutionary perspective. Our ancestors that feared
these things were more likely to survive.
Genes: Some people seem to be genetically predisposed to certain phobias. A
person with a sensitive, high strung temperament is more likely to develop a
phobia. Identical twins have acquired the same phobia independently.
Brain: Chemical activity in the brain can be measured. Feelings of anxiety,
panic attacks, and obsessions and compulsions have an over arousal of bran
areas involved in impulse control and habitual behaviors. (The anterior
cingulate cortex is a brain region that monitors our actions and checks for
errors. It is especially likely to be hyperactive in those with OCD.)
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