User:Atcovi/Psychopathology/Chapter 5

• Fear: Alarm in the central nervous system that goes off when your well-being is under attack. (evolutionary)
• Anxiety: CNS physiological/emotional response to a vague sense of threat.

The ANS (Autonomic Nervous System) wants balance. PNS (peripheral nervous system) seeks relaxation, while the SNS (sympathetic nervous system) produces stress.

Anxiety is good because it prepares us for action. Though, 19% of US adult population suffer from at least 1 of the 6 DMS-5-TR anxiety disorders (slide 8 for more info).

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

• 6+ months, person is really worried about multiple matters (or anything). Huge reduction in life quality is necessary.
• Sociocultural perspective: GAD is associated with dangerous social conditions/threatening environments, including poverty, prejudice, and illness.
• Psychodynamic perspective: GAD occurs when the degree of anxiety/ego mechanisms naturally used to control anxiety is overwhelming. Today, psychodynamic theorists believe that GAD can come back to early parent-child relationships... for example, repression and suffering extreme punishments (id impulses are to the max). Therapies include free asscoation, interpretations of transference, resistance, and dreams to remove fear of id impulses and control. Focus more on control of id than fear.
• Humanistic perspective: When people reject their honest self, that's when GAD comes up. Lack of 'unconditional positive regard' during childhood leads to conditions of worth (harsh standards for oneself). Bad judgements of one's self leads to anxiety, where GAD develops.