Anxiety, Trauma-and-Stressor Related, Obsessive-

Compulsive and Related Disorders

Anxiety
- negative mood state characterized by bodily symptoms
of physical tension and by apprehension about the
future
- sense of unease, elevated heart rate, and muscle
tension

Fear
- immediate alarm reaction to danger
- flight or fight response

Two Types of Panic Attacks:

 Expected (cued) Panic Attack
 Unexpected (uncued) Panic Attack

Causes of Anxiety and Related Disorders

Biological Contributions
- inherit s tendency to be tense, uptight, and anxious
- runs in families and has a genetic component
- Behavioral Inhibition System: activated by signals from
the brain stem of unexpected events

Psychological Contributions
- general sense of uncontrollability
- may be acquired through childhood awareness or
parent’s actions
- Anxiety Sensitivity: determines who will and who will
not experience problems with anxiety under certain
stressful conditions.
- conditioning and cognitive explanations – cues and
stimulis

Social Contribution
- social and interpersonal in nature
- marriage, divorce, death, difficulties at work

An Integrated Model
Triple Vulnerability Theory
- putting factors together in an integrated way
1. Generalized Biological Vulnerability – inherited
2. Generalized Psychological Vulnerability – perceptions
based on early experiences
3. Specific Psychological Vulnerability – learned from
early experience

Comorbidity of anxiety and Related Disorders

- co-occurrence of two or more disorders in a single
individual