NURS 3400 Lecture Notes - Lecture 27: Amitriptyline, Nursing Diagnosis, Agoraphobia
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The difference between stress and anxiety is that stress comes from both the internal and external environments whereas anxiety is an emotional response produced from the internal environment. Areas of the brain affected by anxiety disorders and symptoms they mediate: Amygdala: fear, particularly important in panic and phobic disorders. Hippocampus: associated with memory related to fear response. Symptoms range from sweating, trembling/shaking, chest pain or discomfort, accelerated heart rate(page 532) Average panic attacks last around 30 minutes and can range all the way up to an hour. First priority in accessing a patient with an anxiety disorder is to access their level of anxiety. Characterized by persistent, unrealistic and excessive anxiety and worry. Must have occurred continuously for at least 6 months to be considered gad. Cannot be related to specific organic factors such as caffeine intoxication or hyperthyroidism. Three types of theories used for identifying causes of gad:
