Chapter 1. Anxiety Disorders

Short Description

Anxiety, characterized by feelings of worry, nervousness and fear, is a condition that everyone experiences throughout life.

Long Description

The psychological and physiological sensations that accompany anxiety are considered normal and are even helpful in alerting us to danger and motivating us to work harder. Theorists believe that anxiety is adaptive and has evolved as a human survival function. However, when anxiety pervades everyday life or is otherwise disruptive and/or debilitating, it is considered to be a disorder.

This program explores the three types of anxiety disorders: generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder, and phobias. A person with GAD may experience persistent, exaggerated worry and is often unaware of the root cause of his or her feelings. Over time, GAD can cause physical distress and impair social and occupational functioning. A panic attack, by contrast, is a sudden onset of intense fear leading to shortness of breath, chest tightening, heart palpations, and dizziness. Panic attacks, which typically peak within 10 minutes, can be triggered by a stressful event, by a specific phobia, or in the absence of any discernable cause. Panic disorder is the overarching, generic diagnosis given to a person suffering from regular panic attacks.

The narrator points out that "fear becomes a phobia when it leads to an irrational desire to avoid an object or situation." Such is true of someone with agoraphobia, who avoids public places because of the fear of having a panic attack and not being able to escape. Anxiety and anxiety disorders are often symptoms of, and comorbid with, other psychological disorders.

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