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Ψ  Assessment & Anxiety Disorders
- Anxiety -


    Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is characterized by excessive or unrealistic worry about almost everything or feeling that something bad is about to happen. ( 5% of adults have this. )
 
 • physical symptoms: restlessness, insomnia, headaches, etc.
 
 • psychological symptoms: being irritable, having difficulty concentrating, & being unable to control one’s worry, which is out of proportion to the actual event.
 
 Treatment: Tranquilizers, such as alprazolam & benzodiazepines
 

    Panic Disorder is characterized by recurrent and unexpected panic attacks.
 
 Symptoms: Panic Attack a period of intense fear or discomfort in which four or more of the following symptoms are present:
 
 • pounding heart, sweating
   • trembling
     • shortness of breath
       • feelings of choking
          • chest pain
            • nausea
               • feeling dizzy
                 • fear of losing control or dying
 
  Treatment: benzodiazepines, antidepressants, & or psychotherapy
 

    Phobias are anxiety disorders characterized by an intense and irrational fear that is out of all proportion to the possible danger of the object or situation.
 
  Social phobias are characterized by irrational, marked, and continuous fear of performing in social situations.
 
 Specific phobias ( formerly called simple phobias ) are characterized by marked & persistent fears that are unreasonable and triggered by anticipation of, or exposure to, a specific object or situation.
 
 Agoraphobia is characterized by anxiety about being in places or situations from which escape might be difficult or embarrassing.
 

 Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders (OCD) are OBSESSIONS, persistent, recurring irrational thoughts, impulses, or images, that a person is unable to control and that interfere with normal functioning and COMPULSIONS which are irresistible impulses to perform over & over some senseless behavior or ritual.<


General Psychology
Robert C. Gates