Lecture 7 – Anxiety Disorders Anxiety Symptoms of ... - Psychology

Generalized Anxiety Disorder• Chronic or exaggerated worry with an almostconstant anticipation of disaster withoutprovocation.• Often accompanied by physical symptoms.• Apprehensive Expectation - worry when there isno cause or even if contradictory evidence exists.• Highly prevalent, 3% to 14% of all children.• Often co-morbid with other anxiety disorders anddepression.• Age of Onset about 10 to 14 yearsSpecific Phobias• Extreme, disabling fear of specific objects orsituations that pose little or no danger• Often leads to avoidance or disrupted routines• Child may not realize the fear is extreme andunreasonable• 5 DSM-IV subtypes: animal, natural environment,blood-injection-injury, situational, “other”• 2-4% of children• Peak onset between ages 10 and 13Social Phobias• Marked, persistent fear of being the focusof attention, or doing somethinghumiliating• Children with social phobias more likelyto be highly emotional, socially fearfuland inhibited, sad, and lonely• 1-3% of children, slightly more girls• Age of onset often early to midadolescence(with exaggerated self-focus)• Selective mutism may be a form of socialphobiaObsessive-Compulsive Disorder• Obsessions - persistent and intrusive thoughts.• Compulsions - repetitive, purposeful behaviours,intended to neutralize or reduce anxiety.• Most common obsessions: germs andcontamination; fears of harm to self or others;concerns with symmetry; moralization.• Prevalence: about 2-3% of all children, morecommon in young boys than girls.• Highly co-morbid with other anxiety disorders,depression, and disruptive behaviour disorders.

Panic & Panic Disorder• Panic attack: a sudden and overwhelmingperiod of intense fear or discomfortaccompanied by the flight/fight response• Panic disorder: recurrent unexpected panicattacks, as well as persistent concern aboutthe possible implications and consequencesof having another attack• Agoraphobia: fear and avoidance ofsituations/ places where a panic attack is feltlikely to occur.Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder• Persistent anxiety following exposure to aseverely traumatizing event (e.g. actual orthreatened death or injury, major accidents,natural disasters, abuse).• Core features:1. Persistent re-experiencing of the traumatic event.2. Avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma andnumbing of general responsiveness.3. Persistent symptoms of over-arousal.• PTSD is correlated with degree of exposure.Theories and Causes• Biology and Heritablity:– Inherited biological vulnerabilities towards anxiety.– Involvement of various areas of the brain in theexperience of anxiety and panic.• Temperament and Family Influences:– Is infant temperament related to later anxietyproblems?• Learning theory:– Fear is learned through classical conditioning andmaintained by operant conditioning.

Treatment• Directed at modifying 4 primary problems:• 1. Excessive escape and avoidance behaviours.• 2. Emergency physiological reactions to perceived threats.• 3. Sense of a lack of control.• 4. Distorted information processing.• Behavioural Treatments• exposure, systematic desensitization, modeling.• Cognitive-Behavioural Treatments• how to modify maladaptive thought patterns• Medication