PSY 2012 Lecture Notes - Lecture 28: Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Document Summary
Involve fears that are: uncontrollable, disproportionate to actual danger, disruptive of ordinary life. Feature: motor tension, hyperactivity, apprehensive expectations and thoughts. Anxiety is the state of tension and apprehension that one naturally feels in threatening situations. An anxiety disorder is classified by excessive responses that are out of proportion to the situation that triggers them. Anxiety consists of subjective-emotional, cognitive, psychological and behavioral components. Intense anxiety for at least six months: chronic, or ongoing, state of anxiety that is not attached to any specific situation or object. Persistent anxiety for at least 6 months. Unable to specify reasons for the anxiety. Etiology (cause: biological factors, psychological and sociocultural factors. Intense panic with physical symptoms: usually characterized by a panic attack, a sudden and unpredictable surge of tension and anxiety that can last from several seconds to several hours. Recurrent, sudden onsets of intense apprehension or terror. Often occur without warning and no specific cause.
