NEUR 1201 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Anxiety Disorder
Document Summary
An immediate alarm reaction to present danger, characterized by a strong motivation to escape. Activates the sympathetic nervous system and the sympatho-adrenomedullary (sam) axis to bring about the fight or flight response. A mood state arising from the expectation of a future threat that is perceived as uncontrollable or unavoidable. Likely an evolutionary adaptation for coping with adverse conditions. Fear and anxiety are distinct entities yet they share many of the same symptoms and from a practical stand point are very difficult to distinguish from one another. Anxiety disorders are when these feelings become so frequent, or so forceful, or in response to inappropriate events that it begins to take over the individual"s life. We all feel anxious at time: i. e. public speaking, illness, financial difficulty, anxiety is a normal and appropriate reaction in these situations. There are several types of anxiety disorder: