PSY-2212 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Social Anxiety Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder
31 Aug 2016
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Document Summary
Anxiety: future-oriented worry that something bad will happen, associated with cognitive and behavioral symptoms. It evolved as a fight or flight response to increases chances of survival in dangerous situations. Generally time-limited and goes away when the stressor is over. Deviant given the socio-cultural context and causes problems for the patient. Behavioral theory of anxiety: individual learns feared stimulus is associated with fight or flight response and catastrophic thoughts. By watching a movie, observing someone else react anxiously to feared stimulus. Individual learns avoiding feared stimulus is associated with the decrease or absence of fight of flight response (avoidance is negatively reinforced) Treatment entails new learning: that the feared stimulus is not necessarily associated with a fight or flight response, that if the fight or flight response does not occur, catastrophic outcomes will not happen. Theory may be applied across anxiety disorders and behavioral treatment efficacy and effectiveness are greater than many comparable treatments and medications.
