Anxiety Disorders

I.    Definition of Anxiety:  An unpleasant state of anticipation, apprehension, fear, or dread, often accompanied by a physiologic state of autonomic arousal, alertness, and motor tension.

A.  Psychological Symptoms

1.   Fear, apprehension, dread, sense of impending doom

2.   Worry, rumination, obsession

3.   Nervousness, uneasiness, distress

4.   Derealization (the world seems distorted or unreal), depersonalization (one’s body feels unreal or disconnected)

B.   Physiological Symptoms

1.   Diaphoresis (sweating)                              10.  Pupil dilatation

2.   Diarrhea                                                    11.  Restlessness

3.   Dizziness                                                  12.  Shortness of breath

4.   Flushing or chills                                      13.  Syncope (fainting)

5.   Hyperreflexia                                           14.  Tachycardia

6.   Hyperventilation                                       15.  Tingling

7.   Lightheadedness                                       16.  Tremor

8.   Numbness                                                 17.  Upset stomach (“butterflies”)

9.   Palpitations (pounding heart)                    18.  Urinary frequency

C.   Normal vs. Abnormal Anxiety

1.   Normal Anxiety:  Adaptive psychological and physiological response to a stressful or threatening situation

2.   Abnormal Anxiety:  Maladaptive response to real or imagined stress or threat

a.   Response is disproportionate to stress or threat

b.   Stress or threat is nonexistent, imaginary, or misinterpreted

c.   Symptoms interfere with adaptation or response to stress or threat

d.   Symptoms interfere with other life functions