Panic Attacks & Anxiety PDF

# Panic Attacks - Not a diagnosis but relevant to anxiety disorders - 1/3rd of all people have experienced a panic attack - Peaks within 10 mins - Dread & awful feelings onset - Can be both expected (cued) or unexpected (uncued/spontaneous) # Panic Disorder - Recurrent, unexpected Panic attacks - O...

# Panic Attacks - Not a diagnosis but relevant to anxiety disorders - 1/3rd of all people have experienced a panic attack - Peaks within 10 mins - Dread & awful feelings onset - Can be both expected (cued) or unexpected (uncued/spontaneous) # Panic Disorder - Recurrent, unexpected Panic attacks - Or more attacks follow with anxiety or the next day - Significant life changes occur - Panic-related behavior: - Avoidance - Escape - Panic is also associated with catastrophic thoughts # Panic Attacks ≠ Panic Disorder - Fear of fear - Fear of the attack - Most people seek treatment only after years of struggle - People can also misinterpret body reactions (such as associating effects of coffee with anxiety jitters and an onset of a panic attack) # Treatment - Psychoeducation - Exposure - Interceptive Exposure # Yerkes-Dodson Law - High performance with optimal arousal and performance - Performance decreases due to strong anxiety # Normal anxiety - Evolutionary - necessary for survival - Individual differences: genetics/learned # Abnormal/Pathological Anxiety - Very similar to normal - Occurrence: - Innapropriate occurrence - Excessive - Characterized by overestimation of a threat # DSM Classifications - OCD - Social anxiety - Specific Phobias - PTSD # DSM IV - Change from having more of these to having a uniave and to no longer group them. # Lecture 2 -> Anxiety #*Anxiety*: Activated fear in response to a perceived threat - Experience is always the same - Comes from activation of 3 systems: 1. Physical system: - Mobilizes psychical resources to deal with threat - Fight or flight responses 2. Cognitive system: - Perception/interpretation of threat - Attention shifts towards that threat - Hyper vigilance occurs 3. Behavioral