Class notes
Psyc 3230 Anxiety Disorders Notes
- Course
- Psyc 3230
- Institution
- University Of Georgia
This is a comprehensive and detailed note anxiety disorder for Psyc 3230. *Enjoy!!
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Anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive, and Related DisordersBasics about Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety: central nervous sytem’s psychological and emotional response to a vague sense of
threat or danger (future-oriented)
Contrast to fear: central nervous system’s physiological and emotional respinse to a serious
threat to one’s well being (real or perceived threat)
Anxiety Disorders: disorders that share features of excessive fear and anxiety and related
behavioral disturbances
-differ from one another in the types of objects or situations that induce fear, anxiety, or
avoidance behavior and the associated cognition
-differ from normative fear or anxiety by being excessive and persisting
-anxiety disorders are the most common psychological disorders in the US
-about 31% develop one of the disorders at some point in their lives
-about 42% of these individuals seek treatment
Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Diagnostic Criteria
a) Excessive anxiety and worry, occuring more days than not for atleast 6 months, about a
number of events or activities
b) The individual finds it difficult to control the worry
c) The anxiety and worry are associated with three or more of the following 6 symptoms
(with atleast some symptoms having been present for more days than not)
1) Restlessness or feeling keyed up or on edge
2) Being easily fatigued
, 3) Difficulty concentrating or mind going blank
4) Irritability
5) Muscle tension
6) Sleep disturbance (falling or staying asleep)
*only one symptom required in children
d) the anxiety, worry or physical symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in
social, occupational or other important areas of functioning
Exclusionary Criteria for GAD & More Info
e) the disturbance is not attributable to the physiological effects of a substance (ie. a medication)
or another medical condition
f) the disturbance is not better explained by another mental disorder
-4% of the population have symptoms of this disorder in any given year (6% lifetime prevalence)
-only 43% receive treatment
-more common among White individuals and women
-cultural variation (somatic/physical symptoms vs. cognitive/mental symptoms)
Sociocultural Perspective
-GAD is most likely to develop in people faced with dangerous ongoing social conditions or
highly threatened environments
ie. poverty, widespread illness, racial/ethnic discrimination
Cognitive-Behavioral Perspective
-psychological problems are caused by problematic behaviors and dysfunctional thinking
-early approach:
1) maladaptive assumptions: irrational beliefs that cause them to act this way
2) basic irrational assumptions: Albert Ellis theory
3) silent assumptions about danger: Aaron Beck; one is unsafe until proven safe
-newer approaches:
a) metacognitive theory and meta-worries: people with GAD implicitly hold both positive
and negative beliefs about worrying (negative are “meta-worries”)
b) Intolerance of uncertainty theory: certain individuals cannot tolerate the knowledge that
negative events MAY occur
c) Avoidance theory: they have greater bodily arousal; ie. higher heart rate, perspiration,
respiration and worrying tries to reduce this arousal
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