Anxiety Disorders in Psychology: Case Studies and Treatment Analysis

This assignment explores various anxiety disorders, as defined by the DSM system, including panic disorders, agoraphobia, and phobias. It examines the physiological symptoms and consequences of panic attacks, distinguishing them from general anxiety. The assignment defines and discusses agoraphobia, analyzing how this disorder affects individuals, using a case study of Carmen to illustrate the impact of this disorder on her life. The document also references and cites relevant research from sources such as Stein & Sareen (2015) and Sewart & Craske (2018) to support its claims. This assignment is a valuable resource for students studying abnormal psychology and related fields, providing a comprehensive overview of anxiety disorders, their symptoms, and their impact on individuals.

Question 1
A panic attack is a sudden, overwhelming experience of terror or fright. Whereas anxiety
involves a blend of several negative emotions, panic is more focused. Some clinicians think
of panic as a normal fear response that is triggered at an inappropriate time. In that sense,
panic is a false alarm. Descriptively, panic can be distinguished from anxiety in 2 respects:
it is more intense, and it has a sudden onset. Review the case study on page 104 of your
text. In one or two paragraphs outline and describe the physiological symptoms
experienced by the individual and their consequences.
Answer :
The anxiety can be a normal reaction in response to stress and may be beneficial in some
situations. It warns us of dangers and helps us to prepare and focus. Anxiety disorder is different
from normal feelings of nervousness or anxiety, and involves excessive fear or anxiety.
Types : Phobias, Social Anxiety Disorder ,Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Agoraphobia,
Separation Anxiety Disorder. Phobia is one of the kind of anxiety disorder that is common to
women but a very few men are also affected.( Stein & Sareen , 2015)
Physiological symptom: When a person gets attack from such a mental disorder the following
symptom are shown
1. Nervousness and restlessness
2. Heart rate increases sharply and breathing rate also increased
3. Sweating
4. Trembling
5. Feeling week and tired
6. Have problem in concentrating
7. problem in sleeping
8. No control on fear and worry
9. Gastrointestinal problem
Consequences:
 person can face depression
 Continuous headache and stress
 May feel chest pain
 feels more worm than normal
 feels irritating
 May get stomach upset
 problem of high blood pressure

Question 2 Define and discuss Agoraphobia. Outline how this disorder affected carmen and
her support network.
Answer : Agoraphobia: It is an anxiety disorder that a person feels insecure in an open
environment and can not escape easily from it. This anxiety can come any moment and any place
be it a crowded place, an open place or travelling.
When a person is affected by this disorder, he avoids to go out alone always seeks company to
go out, and always suffer from panic attack. Therefore, people with panic disorder usually
diagnose with agoraphobia.( Sewart & Craske , 2018)
Specific phobia: This phobia only occurs in certain things like fear of height (acrophobia). Most
people try to avoid these situations and try to make such a difference that they can not face
phobia.
Carmen
The Carmen drive a car on the highway at a speed of 55MPH and everything runs fine, she
wears a belt and follows the rule, even if no one is on the road, then she has the feeling of having
hit someone. She did not hit anyone, but because of his anxiety disorder, he felt he had hit
someone. This is an obsessive-compulsive disorder that leads to the realization that she has hit
someone. The women try to get out of this attack, so she always went back to where she wanted
to think about someone, and found that there was no body and no injured person.
This example proves that anxiety disorder leads to physical pain.
References
Stein, M. B., & Sareen, J. (2015). Generalized anxiety disorder. New England Journal of
Medicine, 373(21), 2059-2068., J. (2015). Generalized anxiety disorder. New England Journal of
Medicine, 373(21), 2059-2068.
Sewart, A. R., & Craske, M. G. (2018). Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia. A Guide to Assessments That
Work, 266.