FOUNDATION UNIVERSITY RAWALPINDI CAMPUS

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

PSYCHOLOGY
TOPIC: ANXIETY

GROUP MEMBERS:
Arfa Asif F141BBSEE055
Shah Zeb F141BBSEE067

SUBMITTED TO
Dr. Sumera

DATE:
April 30th,2018
Contents

What is Anxiety? ......................................................................................................................................... 3

Types of Anxiety Disorders ........................................................................................................................ 4

What Causes Anxiety? ................................................................................................................................ 5

Diagnosis of Anxiety ................................................................................................................................... 5

Symptoms of Anxiety .................................................................................................................................. 5

Treatments for Anxiety .............................................................................................................................. 6

References .................................................................................................................................................... 8

2
 ANXIETY
Anxiety is a general term for severely disorders that causes nervousness, fear, apprehension
and worrying.
These disorders affect how we feel and behave and can cause physical symptoms. Mild
anxiety is vague and unsettling, while severe anxiety can seriously affect day-to-day living.

What is Anxiety?
The American Psychological Association (APA) defines anxiety as “an emotion
characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts and physical changes like increased blood
pressure.”

It is important to know the difference between normal feelings of anxiety and an anxiety
disorder requires medical attention.
When faced with potentially harmful or worrying triggers, feelings of anxiety are not only
normal but necessary for survival.

Ever since the earliest days of humanity, the approach of the predators and incoming danger
has set off alarms in the body and allowed an individual to take evasive action. These alarms
become noticeable in the form of raised heartbeat, sweating and increased sensitive to the
surroundings.
A rush of adrenaline in response to danger causes these reactions. This adrenaline boost is
known as the “fight-or-flight” response. It prepares humans to physical confront or flee any threats
to safety.

For most modern individuals, running from larger animals and imminent danger is a less
pressing concern. Anxieties now revolve around work, money, family life, health and other crucial
issues that demand a person’s attention without necessarily requiring the “fight-or-flight” reaction.

That nervous feeling before an important life event or during difficult situation is a natural
echo of the original ‘fight-or-flight’ reaction. It can still be essential to survival – anxiety about
being hit by a car when crossing the street, for example, means that a person will instinctively look
both ways to avoid danger.

Anxiety Disorder
The duration or severity of an anxious feeling can sometimes be out of proportion to the
original trigger, or stressor. Physical symptoms, such as increased blood pressure and nausea, may
also become evident. These responses move beyond anxiety into an anxiety disorder.

Anxiety disorders occur when a reaction is out of proportion to what might normally be
expected in a situation. The APA describes a person with anxiety disorder as “having recurring
intrusive thoughts or concerns”.

3
Types of Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety disorders can be classified into six main types. These include:

 Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): This is a chronic disorder involving excessive, long-
lasting anxiety and worries about non-specific events, objects and situations. It is the most
common anxiety disorder. People with GAD are not always able to identify the cause of their
anxiety.
 Panic Disorder: Brief or sudden attacks of intense terror and apprehension characterize panic
disorder. These attacks can lead to shaking, confusion, dizziness, nausea, and breathing
difficulties. Panic attacks tend to occur and escalate rapidly and peak after 10 minutes.
However, they may last for hours.
Panic disorder usually occur after frightening experiences or prolonged stress but can also
occur without trigger. An individual experiencing a panic attack may misinterpret it as a life-
threatening illness. Panic attacks can also lead to drastic changes in behavior to avoid future
attacks.
 Phobia: This is an irrational fear and avoidance of an object or situation. Phobias differ from
each anxiety disorders, as they relate to a specific cause. The fear may be acknowledged as
irrational or unnecessary, but the person is still unable to control the anxiety. Triggers for a
phobia may be as varied as situations, animals or everyday objects.
 Social Anxiety Disorder: This is a fear of being negatively judged by others in social
situations or a fear of public embarrassment. This includes a range of feelings, such as stage
frights, a fear of intimacy, and a fear of humiliation. This order can cause people to avoid
public situations and human contact to the point that everyday living is rendered extremely
difficult.
 Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): This is an anxiety disorder characterized by
thoughts or actions that are repetitive, distressing and intrusive. OCD suffers usually know
that their compulsions are unreasonable or irrational, but they serve to alleviate their anxiety.
People with OCD may obsessively clean personal items or hands or constantly check locks,
stoves or light switches.
 Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): This is anxiety that results from previous trauma
such as military combat, sexual assault, hostage situation or serious accident. PTSD often
leads to flashbacks and the person may make behavioral changes to avoid triggers.
 Separation Anxiety Disorder: This is characterized by high levels of anxiety when separated
from a person or place that provides feelings of security or safety. Separation sometimes
results in panic symptoms. It is considered a disorder when the person is excessive or
inappropriate after separation.

4
What Causes Anxiety?
Anxiety disorders have complicated network of causes, including:

 Environmental factors, such as stress from a personal relationship, job, school, finances,
traumatic events, or even shortage of oxygen in high-altitude areas.
 Genetics
 Medical factors, such as the side effects of medicine, symptoms of condition or stress from
serious underlying medical condition
 Brain chemistry
 Use of or withdrawal from an illicit substance
Excessive anxiety is most commonly triggered by stress of day-to-day living and any
combination of the above. It is usually a response to outside forces, but it is possible that anxious
feelings can emerge from a person telling himself or herself the worst will happen.

Anxiety can result from a combination of one or more of the above. For example, a person
may respond to stress at work by taking illicit substances, increasing anxiety.

Diagnosis of Anxiety
A mental health professional can diagnose anxiety and identify possible causes.
The physician will take a careful medical and personal history, perform physical
examination, and order laboratory tests if needed. These tests may provide useful information
about a medical condition that may be causing anxiety symptoms.
To receive a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), a person must:

 Experience excessive worry and be anxious about several different events or activities on
more days than not for at least six months.
 Find it difficult to control the worrying.
 Have at least three anxiety symptoms on more days than not in the last six months,
including restlessness, fatigue, irritability, muscle tension, difficulty sleeping, and sleeping
concentrating.
Symptoms must interfere with daily living, causing absence from work or school.

It there is no specific cause for anxiety and worry, a physician will diagnose GAD. In case
related to a clearer cause, a different diagnosis may reach.

Symptoms of Anxiety
There are several different anxiety disorders each with a distinct set of symptoms.
However, common symptoms can include:

 Sweating
 Dizziness

5
  Trembling
 Increased or irregular heartbeat
 Back pain
 Restlessness and fatigue
 Muscle tension
 Being easily startled
 Recurring and ongoing feelings of worry, with or without known stressors
 Avoidance of certain situations that may cause worry, often quality of life

It is crucial that passing feelings of anxieties are temporary to avoid increasing amount of
worry and the risk of anxiety disorder. However, it also important not to ignore symptoms of
anxiety disorders so that timely treatment can be received.

People with anxiety disorder often present symptoms like clinical depression and vice-
versa. It is rare for a patient to exhibit symptoms of only one of these conditions.

Treatments for Anxiety

Treating a person with anxiety depends on the causes of the anxiety and individual
preferences. Often, treatments will consist of combination of psychotherapy, behavioral therapy
and medication.

Depression or other conditions can sometimes have such a strong effect on the individual
that treating the anxiety disorder must wait until any underlying conditions are brought under
control.

 Self-treatment
In some cases, anxiety can be treated at home without doctor’s supervision. However, this
may be limited to shorter periods of anxiety and more obvious causes.

There are several exercises and actions that recommended to cope with this type of
anxiety:
 Stress Management: Learning to manage stress can help limit potential triggers. Keep an
eye on pressures and deadlines, compile lists to make daunting tasks more manageable and
commit to taking time off from study or work.
 Relaxation Techniques: Simple activities can be used to relax mental and physical signs
of anxiety. These include medication, deep breathing exercises, long baths, resting in the
dark and yoga.
 Exercises to replace negative thoughts with positive ones: Make a list of the negative
thoughts you experience, and write down a list of positive, believable thoughts to replace
them. Picturing yourself successfully facing and conquering a specific fear can also be
beneficial if anxiety symptoms are related to a specific cause.
 Support Network: Talk with a person who is supportive, such as family member or friend.

6
  Exercise: Physical exertion can improve self-image and release chemicals in the brain that
trigger positive feelings.

 Counseling
A standard way of treating anxiety is psychological counseling. This include cognitive-
behavioral therapy (CBT), psychotherapy or a combination of therapies.

CBT aims to recognize and change the thinking patterns associated with the anxiety and
troublesome feelings, limit distorted thinking and change the way people react to objects of
situations that trigger anxiety.

For example, a person taking CBR for panic disorder involve learning that panic attacks
are not really heart attacks. CBT is an exposure-based therapy that encourages people to confront
their fears and helps reduce sensitivity to their usual triggers of anxiety.

Psychotherapy is another type of counseling. It consists of talking with a trained mental

health professional, psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker or counselor.

Psychotherapy is another type of counseling. It consists of talking with a trained mental

health professional, psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, or counselor.

Sessions may be used to explore the causes of anxiety and possible ways to cope with
symptoms.

 Medications
Anxiety can be treated using several types of drugs.

In cases where anxiety has a physical cause, such as an imbalance in brain chemistry or
high blood pressure, drugs will be prescribed to treat the underlying condition.

Other medicines are used to control some of the physical and mental symptoms include
antidepressants, benzodiazepines, tricyclics, and beta-blockers.

Benzodiazepines are prescribed, but they can be highly addictive. These drugs tend to have
few side effects except for drowsiness and possible dependency. Diazepam, or Valium, is an
example of a commonly prescribed benzodiazepine.

Anti-depressants are also commonly used to treat anxiety, even though they were designed
to treat depression. Serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) are often used and have fewer side effects

7
than older anti-depressants. They are still likely to cause jitters, nausea, and sexual dysfunction
when treatment begins. Some anti-depressants include fluoxetine, or Prozac, and citalopram, or
Celexa.

Tricyclics are a class of drugs older than SSRIs that have been shown to work well for most
anxiety disorders other than OCD. These drugs are known to cause side effects such as dizziness,
drowsiness, dry mouth, and weight gain. Two examples of tricyclics are imipramine and
clomipramine.

Additional drugs used to treat anxiety include:

 monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs)

 beta-blockers
 buspirone

Be sure to update your physician if the adverse effects of any prescribed medications.

 Prevention
Although anxiety disorders cannot be prevented, and anxious feelings will always be
present in daily life, there are ways to reduce the risk of a full-blown anxiety disorder.

Taking the following steps will help keep anxious emotions in check:

 Reduce caffeine, tea, cola, and chocolate consumption.

 Check with a doctor or pharmacist before using over-the-counter (OTC) or herbal remedies
to see if they contain chemicals that may make anxiety worse.
 Maintain a healthy diet.
 Keep a regular sleep pattern.
 Avoid alcohol, cannabis, and other recreational drugs.

References
1. http://www.apa.org/topics/anxiety/
2. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders/index.shtml
3. https://adaa.org/about-adaa/press-room/facts-statistics
4. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/generalised-anxiety-disorder/symptoms/
5. https://www.helpguide.org/articles/anxiety/anxiety-disorders-and-anxiety-attacks.htm