Anxiety In Psychology

Anxiety, stress, and fear are interrelated emotions that are a natural and common part of life. Stress is a physical and psychological response to a demand for change. The sympathetic nervous system is associated with the physical response associated with stress. Fear is a negative emotion that presents itself in the face of imminent danger. The sympathetic-adrenal-medullary (SAM) pathway triggers a release of adrenaline and noradrenaline, which leads to a fight or flight response. Anxiety is also a negative emotion associated with external demands for change. However, anxiety is caused by thoughts about future dangers. The psychological perception that it may happen is enough to trigger a stress response. Anxiety is accompanied by heightened arousal and muscle tension associated with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal pathway (HPA), but SAM activation
will still occur only in the face of imminent danger.
Anxiety is a normal emotion that in modern times prepares us for the demands of job deadlines, final exams, and other future stressors. Anxiety disorders are diagnosed when the anxiety becomes extreme, unreasonable, or impairs daily functioning. Hallmark characteristics of anxiety disorders also include high levels of avoidance and escape of anxiety and fear-inducing situations or objects. The following summary of SAD is based on information in the DSM-V unless cited otherwise. According to the DSM-V manual, Social Anxiety Disorder, abbreviated SAD in this review, (not to be confused with Seasonal Affective Disorder) is a type of anxiety disorder characterized by excessive fear and anxiety of social situations. There several diagnostic criteria used that are specific to SAD. SAD is primarily characterized by excessive fear or anxiety of social situations where one can be exposed to evaluation by others. Individuals with SAD will fear negative
evaluation of the way they act or of anxiety symptoms they may portray in social situations. They may fear humiliation, embarrassment, and social rejection in front of others. Social situations will almost always cause anxiety and fear in the individual and they will be avoided as much as possible. If a social situation is inevitable, fear and anxiety will persist and intensify. In addition, the perceived threat posed by the social situations will be vastly exaggerated in relation to the actual threat. Other criteria used to diagnose SAD that are not specific to SAD are clinically significant impairment or distress and symptoms lasting 6 months or more. SAD will not be diagnosed if medications, another mental disorder, or substance abuse can provide a better explanation for the social anxiety. Individuals with SAD may also display high levels of shyness, blushing, and lack of confidence in conversation. Performance-only SAD characterizes individuals that exhibit SAD symptoms only in relation to public speaking and performance. Cultural factors also affect SAD diagnosis. For example, in certain cultures, it may be considered respectful to avoid eye contact when a figure of authority or an elder is speaking to you. This SAD-like symptom would be appropriate in that context and not be used to diagnose SAD. The 12-month prevalence of SAD is around 7%, dropping in older age groups, with women having a prevalence 1.5 to 2.2 times greater than men. Non-Hispanic White and Native Americans have the highest rates of incidence. Three-quarters of SAD cases begin from ages 8-15 with 13 being the average age of onset. Not surprisingly, humiliating or stressful social situations in childhood and adolescence can precede SAD onset, and SAD is much less likely to begin in adulthood.