The document discusses what anxiety is, including its psychological and physiological components, and examines its causes such as genetic factors and exposure to threatening situations. It also outlines Freud's perspective of anxiety arising from unconscious conflicts and the social learning theory that anxiety can be a learned response. Different types of anxiety like test anxiety, social anxiety, and phobias are explored along with theories of anxiety and approaches to managing and treating it.

1. Anxiety- “dizziness of
freedom”.
Classical concepts, general overview.

2. What is anxiety?
o Psychological & physiological state characterized by
somatic, emotional, cognitive & behavioral components.
o Normal reaction to stressor.
Stressor= environmental condition or stimulus.
o Prolonged time frame
o Classically response to stress/frustration.
consequence of events.
way of dealing with personal issues.
o Anxiety and fear?
- fear – concrete danger, occurs in present time.
-anxiety – paranoia of something frightening, may or may
not be actual. Time perspective – future.

3. Causes
• Individual
• genetic factors
• environmental
• Gender
• Exposure to situations in which ones ego is/may be harmed. –
view of world incompatible with situation – inability to peruse
personal reassessment & values.
• Conflicts and frustration
• Threats and harm –
• Physical harm
• Psychological harm – to ones self-esteem
• Pressure to perform beyond ones capability.

5. Types - classification
• Sigmund Freud;
– objective anxiety
• Normal response to external danger.
• Synonymous with ‘fear’.
– neurotic anxiety
• A result of a unconscious conflict within the
individual – unaware of situation.
• Modern forms:
• Social anxiety
• Phobia
• Obsessive-compulsive
• Post-traumatic stress.

6. “Test anxiety”
• Test anxiety is the uneasiness or nervousness felt by
students who had a fear of failing an exam.
• Fear of negative evaluation.
• Optimal level of stimulation is necessary for maximal
performance – such as writing exams.
– When the anxiety or level of stimulation exceeds that
optimum, results in a decline in performance.
• Association of grades with personal worth
• Fear of embarrassment by a teacher
• Fear of alienation from parents or friends
• Time pressures
• Feeling a loss of control.

7. Major theories / concepts
• Freud - Anxiety as an unconscious conflict.
• Social learning theory - Anxiety as a learned
response.
• Anxiety as a lack of control.

8. Anxiety as an unconscious conflict.
• Result of an unconscious conflict between
the id impulses- (sexual or aggressive types)
& constraints imposed by the ego & the
superego.
• Many id impulses pose as a threat to the
individual, seem contradictory to personal
or social values.
• Application of methods for protection, such
as defense mechanisms to cope.

9. The social learning theory.
• Doesn’t focus on the internal conflicts, instead weight is put on
the ways in which anxiety becomes associated with certain
situations - via learning.
• Things that we are taught as children.
• Conflict in social interactions or expectations which differ from
own beliefs or that of the taught behaviour - anxiety
appears, we become anxious. ‘What we are & what were expected
to be’.
• Problem !
– Learned behaviour for temporary control. Results in subject often
do not dealing with the issue, instead we just avoid it.
– leads to avoidance responses – in turn never gives us a chance to
explore & realize that the situation might not be so bad. (ex.
Running away from a dog – fear we never learn that most dogs are
friendly).

10. Anxiety as a lack of control.
• Feeling of being helpless and not in control.
• Central most theories;
– Psychoanalytic theory, anxiety arises when the
ego is threatened by impulses it cannot control.
– Social learning theory- people become anxious
when they are threatened by painful stimuli
that they can only control by avoidance.

11. Coping / management.
• Degree of anxiety depends on our level of control.
• Realization – dealing with problem.
• Major ways:
• Problem-based – appraise the anxiety producing
situation and do something about the problem – either
change it or avoid it.
• Emotion-based – a way to reduce the feelings intensity
instead of directly dealing with the problem itself.
• Combination of both methods is most common.

12. Treatment /Alternatives.
• CBT – Cognitive behavioral therapy
• PAM –Parental Anxiety Management
• Hypnotherapy treatment
– also proved useful in generalized anxiety, phobias &
posttraumatic stress disorders
• Alternative decrease in caffeine intake
• Combined treatment, CBT & PAM.