14.2 Anxiety Disorders, OCD, and PTSD

generalized anxiety disorder:

an anxiety disorder in which a person is continually tense, apprehensive, and in a state of autonomic nervous system arousal.

Tomas is continually tense and plagued by muscle tension, sleeplessness, and an inability to concentrate. He most likely suffers from _____ disorder.

generalized anxiety

Brooke is focused on cleaning her home, which she does for four hours every day. In particular, the fringe on her living room rug must be straight on both sides. This takes considerable time, and she often repeats this task 10 to 12 times per day. Her experience is most symptomatic of _____ disorder.

obsessive-compulsive

Phil is extremely fearful of germs. He sleeps in a special chamber at night, wears gloves, and will only eat food that he can unwrap. His symptoms are most characteristic of a(n) _____ .

phobia

anxiety disorders:

psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety.

panic

Symptoms that can be incorrectly perceived as those of a heart attack are most characteristic of _____ disorder.

Generalized anxiety

_____ disorder is characterized by symptoms of unexplained and continually tense and uneasy feelings.

Posttraumatic stress disorder

_____ is a disorder characterized by symptoms that include haunting memories and nightmares, jumpy anxiety, social withdrawal, and insomnia.

posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD):

a disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, numbness of feeling, and/or insomnia that lingers for four weeks or more after a traumatic experience.

obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD):

a disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions), actions (compulsions), or both.

phobia:

an anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object, activity, or situation.

panic disorder:

an anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable, minutes-long episodes of intense dread in which a person experiences terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations. Often followed by worry over a possible next attack.

Lenore is continually tense and plagued by muscle tension, sleeplessness, and an inability to concentrate. Lenore MOST likely suffers from:

generalized anxiety disorder.

After a traumatic event, some people will develop PTSD; others will not. Those who experienced PTSD may have done so because they have a more sensitive ____.

limbic system

Without success, Fabian spends hours each day trying to suppress the intrusive worry that he may have forgotten to lock the door to his house when he left for work. His experience is MOST symptomatic of:

obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Thirty-five-year-old Caroline needs to have her blood drawn. She is so distraught by this that she must mentally prepare herself for it, as well as take a short-acting sedative. Caroline seems to be suffering from a(n) _____.

phobia