Anxiety disorders are characterized by excessive and persistent worry and fear that interfere with daily activities, unlike ordinary worries and fears. They are caused by biological factors like abnormal neurotransmitter levels or brain structures, learned behaviors through classical and operant conditioning, and repressed unconscious urges according to psychoanalytic theory. Specific anxiety disorders include generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder, each with distinct symptoms, triggers, and treatments.

1. Abnormal Psych: Anxiety Disorders
• Learning Goals:
– Students should be able to answer the following:
5: What are anxiety disorders, and how do they differ from ordinary worries and
fears?
6: What produces the thoughts and feelings that mark anxiety disorders?
1
Rating Student Evidence
4.0
Expert
I can satisfy all the requirements of level 3.0
and debate the legitimacy of the proposed
causes of anxiety disorders.
★ 3.0 ★
Proficient
I can identify, describe and explain causes of
specific anxiety disorders.
2.0
Developing
I can identify and describe some of the
specific anxiety disorders.
1.0
Beginning
I need more prompting and/or support to
identify the concepts stated in 2.0

2. Anxiety Disorders
• Anxiety: General State of dread or
uneasiness that occurs in response
to a vague or imagined danger.
• Also, nervousness, inability to relax,
concern about losing control
• Physical Symptoms caused by over
active sympathetic nervous
system:
– Trembling, Sweating, Rapid Heart
Rate, Shortness of Breath, Increased
Blood Pressure, Flushed Face,
Feelings of Light-headedness
2

3. • Anxiety Disorders: A mental health
disorder characterized by feelings of
worry, anxiety, or fear that are
strong enough to interfere with
one's daily activities
• (anxiety disorders are characterized by distressing, persistent
anxiety or dysfunctional anxiety-reducing behaviors.)

4. Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
• Excessive or unrealistic
worry about life
circumstances lasting for at
least six months
– Financial Issues, Work,
Relationships
• Hard to Treat and Diagnosis
• Effects more Women and
Blacks
4

5. Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia
• Panic Attack: a short period of intense fear or discomfort with
most of the physical symptoms of anxiety present
• Agoraphobia: Fear of being in places or situations in which
escape may be difficult or impossible
– Accounts for 50-80% of phobia clients seeking treatment
• Both panic attacks and agoraphobia lead to avoidance behaviors
• Treatment:
– Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
– Behavioral Therapy with conditioning and relaxation
5

6. Phobias- “Fear Disorder”
• Social Phobia
– Fear of social situations in which one might be exposed to the close scrutiny of
others and might be humiliated or embarrassed
– Examples: Public speaking, eating in public or dating
• Specific Phobia (most common)
– Happens in women 2-1
– Animal, Situational, Injection
– Irrational and persistent fear of a particular object or situation
6

7. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• Obsessions: Unwanted thoughts, ideas or
mental images that occur over and over again
• Compulsions: Repetitive ritual behaviors
involving checking or cleaning (helps to reduce
anxiety from obsessions)
• 55% of OCD clients obsess over dirt or
contamination
• May be caused by frontal lobe glucose
metabolism or wired into brain
7
A PET scan of the brain of a
person with Obsessive-
Compulsive Disorder
(OCD). High metabolic
activity (red) in the frontal
lobe areas are involved with
directing attention.

8. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
8

9. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Intense, persistent feelings of anxiety that are caused by a traumatic
experience
• Added to the DSM after the Vietnam War
• Previously called “shell shock” and “battle fatigue”
• Events that lead to PTSD:
– Rape, Child Abuse, Assault, Severe Accidents, Natural Disasters, War
– Lower than average cortisol levels may predispose people to PTSD
• Symptoms:
– Flashbacks & Nightmares
– Tension & Aggression
– Avoidance Behavior & Substance Abuse
• Treatments:
– Prolonged CBT
– Virtual Therapy- reliving the event
– EMDR
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10. What Causes Anxiety Disorders?
• Psychoanalytic Perspective: Repressed unconscious
urges from childhood
• Biological Perspective: Too much or too little of
certain neurotransmitters or brain abnormality;
sensitive amygdala
• Behavioral (Learning) Perspective: Conditioned
through classical conditioning or operant
conditioning to experience anxiety
10

11. 5: What are anxiety disorders, and how do they differ from ordinary worries and
fears?
6: What produces the thoughts and feelings that mark anxiety disorders?
Mr. Burnes 11
Rating Student Evidence
4.0
Expert
I can satisfy all the requirements of level 3.0 and debate
the legitimacy of the proposed causes of anxiety
disorders.
★ 3.0 ★
Proficient
I can identify, describe and explain causes of specific
anxiety disorders.
2.0
Developing
I can identify and describe some of the specific anxiety
disorders.
1.0
Beginning
I need more prompting and/or support to identify the
concepts stated in 2.0