PSYA02 03/11

Administrative Announcements

• Common administrative announcements addressed in response to questions from students.

  • Infographic review assignments for the second year were technically due last Friday, with a one-week automatic extension. Due this coming Friday.

  • The experiential learning working grade project is also due next Friday the 20th due to the same extension.

  • Some students are encountering difficulties accessing PeerSeller from the Safari browser.

Overview of Lecture Content

• Topic of today's lecture: Anxiety Disorders.

  • Focus on the prognosis of various anxiety disorders.

  • Discussion of anxiety in the context of the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).

Concept of Anxiety

• Two distinct experiences related to anxiety and fear.

  • Fear:

  • An adaptive response to a present danger.

  • Example: Encounter with a grizzly bear while camping.

  • Anxiety:

  • An adaptive response to potential future dangers.

  • Example: Worrying about a noise outside the tent and potential threats.

• Importance of distinguishing between fear and anxiety in understanding anxiety disorders.

Adaptive Nature of Anxiety and Fear

• Both fear and anxiety help in survival.

  • Being fearful of immediate threats (e.g., hungry lions, aggressive prisoners) is beneficial.

  • Anxiety prepares individuals for possible future dangers (e.g., allocation of resources for studying for tests).

• Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs:

  • Anxiety may arise when physiological or safety needs are unmet, prompting individuals to seek resources to fulfill those needs.

Maladaptive Anxiety

• Anxiety becomes maladaptive when it interferes with functioning.

  • Impedes success and well-being.

  • Examples of maladaptive behaviors due to anxiety:

  • Negative self-talk.

  • Insomnia resulting from anxiety.

  • Non-suicidal self-injury as a coping mechanism.

• Pathological anxiety classifications are found in the DSM, with high prevalence rates.

Prevalence of Anxiety Disorders

• Estimated that 30% of Canadians will experience an anxiety disorder in their lifetime, but only about 5% are diagnosed.

• Disconnect between estimated prevalence and actual diagnoses.

  • Many individuals do not seek treatment.

• Discussion of older statistics on anxiety in UBC undergraduate students:

  • High rates of overwhelming anxiety reported interfering with functioning.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

• Definition:

  • Most common anxiety disorder characterized by worries across multiple domains, not focused on any specific threat.

• Personal experience shared by the lecturer describing the variability of anxiety related to situational stressors.

• Diagnostic criteria for GAD (must meet all criteria):

  1. Excessive anxiety and worry occurring on more than 50% of days for 6 months, across multiple events or stressors.

  2. Difficulty controlling the worry.

  3. Three or more of the following symptoms for 6 months:

  • Restlessness

  • Fatigue

  • Difficulty concentrating

  • Irritability

  • Muscle tension

  • Sleep disturbance

  1. Significant distress or functional impairment.

  2. Not attributable to substance use or medical condition.

  3. Cannot be better described by another DSM diagnosis.

• Importance of correct diagnosis for appropriate treatment:

  • Different anxiety disorders require different treatments.

• Onset and Course of GAD:

  • Typically emerges after puberty, with median age of diagnosis around 30.

  • Individuals often have experienced symptoms for many years before seeking help.

  • Anxiety levels can vary throughout an individual's life; however, full remission without treatment is rare.

Phobic Disorders

• Definition:

  • Severe, persistent, excessive fear of specific objects, activities, or situations, recognized by the individual as irrational.

• Common types of phobias include:

  • Animals (e.g., spiders, snakes).

  • Heights (acrophobia).

  • Natural environment (e.g., earthquakes).

  • Medical situations (e.g., injections).

  • Situations (e.g., enclosed spaces).

• Key distinction:

  • Adaptive fear (e.g., fear of snakes) vs. maladaptive fear that impacts daily functioning.

• Treatment for Phobic Disorders:

  • Gradual exposure therapy approaches consisting of incremental exposure to feared stimuli paired with positive reinforcement.

Social Anxiety Disorder

• Definition:

  • Fear of public humiliation or embarrassment.

  • May lead to avoidance of social interactions or performance-related situations.

• Not all social anxiety is classified as a disorder; only when it significantly interferes with functioning.

Conclusion

• Follow-up discussion on Friday about Specific Phobia linked to parents' theory and preparedness theory explaining the prevalence of specific phobias.

• Reflection on the importance of understanding individual experiences with anxiety and the path toward recognizing and seeking help for anxiety disorders.