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

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.