A 38 year-old business executive experienced overwhelming anxiety whenever he was in an unfamiliar place or he had to be involved in extended business meetings.

On two occasions, his anxiety produced symptoms similar to a heart attack, and he had to be rushed to a hospital. His episodes of panic occurred whenever he couldnt immediately get to a bathroom when he had an urge to urinate. He was deathly afraid he would wet his pants in Public. Leon (1977)

What is Anxiety?
- Is an unpleasant emotion characterized by terms like worry, apprehension, Dread, and fear that we all experience at times in varying degrees. - Any situation that threatens the well-being of the organism is assumed to produce a state of anxiety. - Conflicts and other types of frustrations are one source.

2 types of anxiety according to Freud a. Objective anxiety

Realistic response to perceive danger in the environment, synonymous with fear.

b. Neurotic anxiety
Anxiety that comes from an unconscious conflict within the individual; since the conflict was unconscious, the person is not aware of the reason for his or her anxiety.

 Anxiety as unconscious conflict

Anxiety as a learned response

Types of Anxiety Disorders

There are five main categories of anxiety disorders. These are the following:
1. 2. 3. 4. Phobias Panic disorder Generalized anxiety disorder Stress disorder
a) b) Posttraumatic stress disorder Acute stress disorder

5. Obsessive-compulsive disorder

Phobias
Are characterized by exaggerated, persistent, irrational, and disruptive fears of a particular object, a particular event, or a particular setting, or fears of a general kind of object, event or setting.

Phobias are learned through observation as well as through experience

Phobias can be:

1. Specific

2. Social
- phobias that are characterized be extreme fear of being criticized by others

3. Agora phobia - Is characterized by an intense fear of open spaces or of being in public places from which it might be difficult to escape in the event of a panic attack.

Acrophobia High Places Agoraphobia open spaces Claustrophobia small or enclosed places Cynophobia Dogs Cypridophobia STD Electrophobia Electricity Genophobia Sex Gynophobia women Hydrophobia water Kakorrhaphiophobia Failure Mysophobia Dirt Nyctophobia Darkness Social phobia observation or evaluation by the people Thanatophobia Death Zoophobia Animals

Panic Disorder
is characterized by brief, abrupt, and unprovoked but recurrent episodes during which a person experiences intense and uncontrollable anxiety. The person suddenly feels apprehensive or even terrified, experiencing difficulty in breathing, heart palpitations, dizziness, sweating, trembling and may loose control of themselves and become crazy.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Is characterized by persistent, constant and often debilitating high levels of anxiety, accompanied by physiological symptoms that last any length of time from month to years. People with generalized anxiety disorders or panic disorders experience extreme anxiety or exaggerated worries. For example I might get sick

Stress Disorders
Are characterized by an extreme reaction to a highly stressful event or situation, such as rape or combat.

a.) posttraumatic stress disorder - a person experiences a psychological reenactment of a past traumatic event such as recurring nightmares or repeated wakeful resurfacing of painful memories of the event while consciously engaged in other activities.

b.) Acute stress disorder - a brief mental disturbance arises in response to a traumatic event, lasting fewer than 4 weeks. - persons may experience a sense of detachment from the physical and social worlds, distortions or other changes in perceptions, and disturbances of memory.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Is characterized by unwanted, persistent thoughts and irresistible impulses to perform a ritual to relieve those thoughts. 2.5% of US population is affected (1997)
An obsession is an unwanted, persistent thoughts that cannot be suppressed. Obsessives are unhappy with the obsession and with being unable to keep it out of their minds.

 Compulsive persons are often aware of the absurdity of their behavior and yet are unable to stop it.

Coping and defense strategies Anxiety is a very uncomfortable emotion and cannot be tolerated for so long. Hence, we are strongly motivated to do something to alleviate discomfort. Each individual develops various methods of handling anxietyproducing situation and feeling of anxiety

Types of Strategies against anxiety 1. Coping strategies - Behaviors that a person uses to deal directly with the stressful and anxiety-producing situation in order to change or avoid it. 2. Defensive strategies - Solutions to defend anxiety rather than dealing directly with the problem.

Defense Mechanism

- Defense Mechanisms are means of defending oneself against painful anxiety. They are never totally successful in relieving tension. - Freud used the term defense mechanism to refer to unconscious process that defend a person against anxiety by distorting reality in some way. - These strategies do not alter the objective condition of danger but they just simply change the way the person perceives or think about it. Hence, they involve self-deception.

Freud described defense mechanisms to cope with ego anxiety. They are: Repression Denial Rationalization Displacement Regression Projection Reaction Formation Sublimation

 Repression
motivated forgetting

Denial
The refusal to believe information that provokes anxiety

 Displacement
Diverting a behavior or a thought away from its natural target to a less threatening target.

Regression
A return to a more juvenile level of functioning.

Reaction Formation
Presenting oneself as the opposite of what they really are.

 Sublimation
Transformation of an unacceptable impulse into an acceptable one, even admirable.

Rationalization
Attempt to prove that their actions are rational and justifiable and thus worthy of approval.

Projection
Attribution of ones own undesirable characteristic to other people. But they dont deny they have such faults.

Anxiolytic/s
-a drug that relieves anxiety

Remember: - Over the course of a lifetime, each individual develops various methods of handling anxiety-producing situation and feeling of anxiety.

The Scream Norwegian artist Edvard Munch suffered from severe anxiety for much of his life. The Scream (1893), his most famous painting, reflects his inner turmoil. Many of Munchs works reflect themes of anxiety, loneliness, death, and grief. Microsoft Encarta 2009. 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

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