PSYC 3140 Lecture Notes - Depressant, Diazepam, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Document Summary
Anxiety is an unpleasant emotional state ranging from mild unease to intense fear. A certain amount of anxiety, however, is normal and serves to improve performance. It gears you up to face a threatening situation. It makes you study harder for that exam, and keeps you on your toes when you"re making a speech. Objective measurements that can indicate a person is anxious: heart rate, respiration, pupil dilation. Characterized by irritability, lack of concentration, feelings of fear (cognitive: feelings of fear make me feel anxious more subjective, psychological measurement, although subjective, is the most commonly used in psychopathology: rating of anxiety. All basic emotions come with observable change. Anxiety is generated when we perceive to be threatened (be it real or unreal) Physiological response to fear and anxiety would be similar but the difference is the circumstance. Fear is the reaction of an immediate threat; anxiety is a reaction to a perceived threat.
