PSYB32H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Separation Anxiety Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Document Summary
Anxiety: an unpleasant feeling of fear and apprehension accompanied by increased physiological arousal. In learning theory, it is considered a drive that mediates between a threatening situation and avoidance behaviour. Anxiety can be assessed by self-report, by measuring physiological arousal, and by observing overt behaviour. Anxiety disorders are diagnosed when subjectively experienced feelings of anxiety are clearly present. Dsm-iv-tr proposed six categories: phobias, panic disorders, generalized anxiety disorder (gad), obsessive-compulsive disorder (ocd), post-traumatic stress disorder (ptsd), and acute stress disorder. Often someone with one anxiety disorder meets the diagnostic criteria for another disorder, as well, with the possible exception of ocd. This comorbidity among anxiety disorders arises for two reasons: symptoms of the various anxiety disorders are not entirely disorder specific, the etiological factors that give rise to various anxiety disorders are probably applicable to more than one disorder. As a group, the anxiety disorders are the most common psychological disorders.
