anxiety

Examples of anxiety in the following topics:

• Introduction to Anxiety Disorders

  • Anxiety disorders involve extreme reactions to anxiety-inducing situations, including excessive worry, uneasiness, apprehension, or fear.
  • Anxiety disorders, however, are dysfunctional responses to anxiety-inducing situations.
  • The difference between normal anxiety and an anxiety disorder is that anxiety disorders cause such severe distress as to interfere with someone's ability to lead a normal life.
  • "Anxiety disorder" refers to any of a number of specific disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, phobia, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and social anxiety disorder.
  • Anxiety in and of itself is not a bad thing.

• Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia)

  • As with specific phobias, social anxiety disorder is common in the United States; a little over 12% of all Americans experience social anxiety disorder during their lifetime (Kessler et al., 2005).
  • The heart of the anxiety in social anxiety disorder is the person’s concern that they may act in a humiliating or embarrassing way, such as appearing foolish, showing symptoms of anxiety (such as blushing), or doing or saying something that might lead to rejection (such as offending others).
  • Although many people become anxious in social situations like public speaking, the fear, anxiety, and avoidance experienced in social anxiety disorder are highly distressing and lead to serious impairments in life.
  • When people with social anxiety disorder are unable to avoid situations that provoke anxiety, they typically perform safety behaviors: mental or behavioral acts that reduce anxiety in social situations by reducing the chance of negative social outcomes.
  • This anxiety—or efforts to avoid the anxiety-inducing situation—must cause considerable distress and an impaired ability to function in at least some parts of social, occupational, academic, or daily life.

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder

  • Generalized anxiety disorder is characterized by chronic anxiety that is excessive, uncontrollable, and often irrational.
  • Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is characterized by chronic anxiety that is excessive, uncontrollable, often irrational, and disproportionate to the actual object of concern.
  • Long-term use of benzodiazepines can worsen underlying anxiety, with evidence that reduction in benzodiazepine use can in turn lead to a lessening of anxiety symptoms.
  • Similarly, long-term alcohol use is associated with the development of anxiety disorders, with evidence that prolonged abstinence can in turn result in the remission of anxiety symptoms.
  • Summarize the diagnostic criteria, etiology, and treatment of generalized anxiety disorder

• Specific Phobia

  • Specific phobias involve excessive, distressing, and persistent fear or anxiety about a specific object or situation.
  • Even though people realize their level of fear and anxiety in relation to the phobic stimulus is irrational, some people with a specific phobia may go to great lengths to avoid the phobic stimulus (the object or situation that triggers the fear and anxiety).
  • Typically, the fear and anxiety a phobic stimulus elicits is disruptive to the person’s life.
  • At a low level, fear and anxiety are not bad things.
  • In fact, the hormonal response to anxiety has evolved as a benefit, since it helps humans react to dangers.

• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

  • Obsessive-compulsive disorder is characterized by intrusive thoughts and repetitive behaviors aimed at reducing anxiety.
  • Compulsions are ritualistic behaviors that an individual performs in order to mitigate the anxiety that stems from obsessive thoughts.
  • Serotonin is thought to have a role in regulating anxiety.
  • A specific technique often used is exposure and ritual prevention, which involves gradually learning to tolerate the anxiety associated with not performing a compulsion or ritual.
  • The person habituates to the anxiety-producing situation and discovers that their anxiety level has dropped considerably; they can then progress to not checking the lock at all.

• Specific Effects of Stress: Cancer

  • People who experience chronic stress are also more prone to viral infections, such as the flu or common cold, and to experience headaches, sleep trouble, depression, and anxiety.
  • In contrast, people who are able to use effective coping strategies to deal with stress, such as relaxation and stress management techniques, have been shown to have lower levels of depression, anxiety, and other symptoms related to the cancer and its treatment.
  • Such support can reduce levels of depression, anxiety, and disease-related or treatment-related symptoms among patients.

• Feeding Disorders

  • Specific food avoidances could also be caused by food phobias that cause great anxiety when a person is presented with new or feared foods.
  • Hypnotherapy can also be used to lessen the anxiety associated with food; in addition, there are support groups for adults with ARFID.
  • The relaxation stage is most important for those children that suffer severe anxiety when presented with unfavorable foods.
  • Children learn to relax to reduce the anxiety that they feel.
  • Children work through a list of anxiety-producing stimuli and can create a story line with relaxing imagery and scenarios.

• Behavior Therapy and Applied Behavioral Analysis

  • Virtual reality exposure therapy uses simulations when it's either too impractical or expensive to re-create anxiety-producing situations; it has been used effectively to treat numerous anxiety disorders such as the fear of public speaking, claustrophobia (fear of enclosed spaces), aviophobia (fear of flying), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
  • Flooding is the general technique in which an individual is exposed to anxiety-provoking stimuli, while at the same time prevented from having any avoidance responses.
  • It is often used to treat phobias, anxiety, and other stress-related disorders.
  • Systematic desensitization has been shown to successfully treat phobias about heights, driving, and insects, as well as any anxiety that a person may have.
  • Virtual reality treatment has been shown to be effective for a fear of heights; it has also been shown to help with the treatment of a variety of anxiety disorders.

• Panic Disorder and Panic Attacks

  • A panic attack is a sudden period of intense anxiety; if these attacks occur often, they may indicate a panic disorder.
  • In the DSM-5, panic attacks themselves are not mental disorders; instead, they are listed as specifiers for other mental disorders, such as anxiety disorders.
  • As is the case with other anxiety disorders, the panic attacks cannot result from the physiological effects of drugs and other substances, a medical condition, or another mental disorder.
  • Activation of the locus coeruleus is associated with anxiety and fear, and research with nonhuman primates has shown that stimulating the locus coeruleus either electrically or through drugs produces panic-like symptoms (Charney et al., 1990).
  • An acute asthma attack produces sensations, such as shortness of breath, coughing, and chest tightness, that typically elicit fear and anxiety.

• Depressants

  • Calming effects of depressants may be beneficial to those suffering from anxiety, sleep disorders, or pain; however, the more extreme effects can be dangerous and even life-threatening.
  • Benzodiazepines enhance the effect of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) at the GABA receptor, resulting in sedative, hypnotic (sleep-inducing), anxiolytic (anti-anxiety), anticonvulsant, and muscle-relaxant properties.
  • These properties make benzodiazepines useful in treating anxiety, insomnia, agitation, seizures, muscle spasms, alcohol withdrawal, and as a premedication for medical or dental procedures.
  • Some of the most common benzodiazepines are anti-anxiety medications, such as clonazepam (Klonopin), alprazolam (Xanax), diazepam (Valium), and zolpidem (Ambien).