Page 1 - psychological disorders

Class - XII

Psychology

Chapter 4: Psychological Disorders

MODULE - 3

(Topics: Major Psychological Disorders)

Short Note

Anxiety Disorders

 Anxiety is usually defined as a diffuse, vague, very unpleasant feeling of fear and
apprehension.
 Symptoms are: rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, diarrhoea, loss of appetite,
fainting, dizziness, sweating, sleeplessness, frequent urination and tremors.
 Anxiety is of many types:

1. Generalized anxiety disorder:
 This consists of prolonged, vague, unexplained and intense fear which are not
attached to any particular object or person.
 Symptoms: worry, apprehensive feeling about future, hypervigilance that
involves constantly scanning the environment for dangers.
 It is marked by motor tension, as a result of which the person is unable to relax, is
restless, and visibly shaky and tense.
2. Panic disorder:
 Consists of recurrent anxiety attacks, feeling intense terror.
 A panic attack denotes an abrupt of intense anxiety rising to a peak when thoughts
of a particular stimuli are present.
 Symptoms: shortness of breath, dizziness, trembling, palpitations, choking,
nausea, chest pain or discomfort, fear of going crazy, losing control or dying.
3. Phobias:
 People with phobia have irrational fear related to a specific object, people or
situations.
 Phobia often develops gradually, starts with a general anxiety disorder.
 E.g. people scared to climb heights, afraid of deep waters, in an elevator.
 Can be grouped into 3 types, i.e Specific phobia, social phobia, agoraphobia.