PSYCO239 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Social Anxiety Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder

• School: University of Alberta
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYCO239
• Professor: Jaylene Brinker

Document Summary

Fear: an immediate alarm reaction to danger, strong nervous system arousal, fight or flight response. Anxiety: the potential of danger, a negative mood state, bodily symptoms of physical tension, apprehension about the future. Panic: abrupt experience of intense fear or discomfort accompanied by physical symptoms such as heart palpitations, chest pain, shortness of breath, and dizziness. Biological: predisposition to sympathetic system of arousal (fight/flight) Excessive anxiety and worry must be ongoing more days than not for a period of at least six months. It must also be difficult to turn off of control the worry process, a feature that distinguishes pathological worry from normal worry. Gad symptoms: muscle tension, mental agitation, susceptibility to fatigue, irritability, and difficulty sleeping. Avoidance theory: people worry excessively in order to restrict autonomic arousal, prepare for future threat, and to avoid thinking about more emotional material.