PS280 Chapter 5: PS280 Chapter 5 - Anxiety Disorders.docx
Document Summary
Anxiety an affective state whereby an individual feels threatened by the potential occurrence of a future negative event. Fear primitive emotion and occurs in response to a real, identified, or perceived current threat. Fight or flight response fear prompts a person to either flee from a dangerous situation or stand and fight. It is important from an evolutionary perspective because of the behavioural response it elicits. Panic extreme fear reaction that is triggered even though there is nothing to be afraid of; a false alarm. 1980 disorders were classified together with the somatoform and dissociative disorders under the heading of neurosis. People who were not psychotic but who still had emotional problems were labelled neurotic a disturbance in the central nervous system. Genetics: genetic influence on anxiety disorders comes from studies of families and twins; demonstrate that virtually all of anxiety disorders show at least a moderate level of concordance within family members.
