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Symptoms And Symptoms Of Generalized Anxiety Disorder

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Psych 335 – Abnormal Psychology
Fall, 2016, Worksheet One

1. Define generalized anxiety disorder, and discuss how it differs from panic attacks, and from specific phobias.
Generalized anxiety disorder is characterized by excessive anxiety and a feeling of being out of control. In addition, individuals with this disorder often experience a lack of concentration, disturbances in sleep, restlessness, and irritability. This disorder differs from panic attacks in that the anxiety is future based, instead of present based. Due to this difference individuals with generalized anxiety disorder, have anxiety about a situation in which they are not currently in, while people who experience panic attacks initially react to a perceived threat in the environment. Also, generalized anxiety disorder and panic attacks or panic disorder are associated with dissimilar physiological reactions. With panic disorder, there is arousal of the sympathetic nervous system, which results in symptoms such as increased heart rate, trembling and sweating. Physical symptoms of part of generalized anxiety disorder include muscle tension, fatigue, irritability, and difficulty sleeping. For generalized anxiety disorder, there is are biological and psychological vulnerabilities, this is true of panic disorder as well, however there is also learned component; this difference is found in specific phobias in that it often results from learned experiences. In comparison with specific phobias, generalized anxiety

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