Clinically Significant Fear and Anxiety

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1. What would be the criteria used to distinguish between clinically significant fear and anxiety, and everyday fear and anxiety? (198)First, we need to understand what fear and anxiety is. Fear is when the nervous system responds to a threat to ones well being. Anxiety is when there is a vague sense of danger. Both of these term help the body determine when action needs to be taken like “Fight” or “Flight”. When they both come clinically significant is when people can’t not live there normal lives without one or there other or both interfering. “Their discomfort is so server or to frequent, last too long, or is trigger to easily, (Comer, 2013, pp.114)”. Then they are termed with having an anxiety disorder or some other disorder. Most psychologist use the DSM-5 check list when diagnosing a patient with anxiety disorder. They look for these signs that the DSM-5 list: 1. Excessive or ongoing anxiety and worry, for at least three months, about two or more activates or events (Table 5-1). 2. Restlessness and/or muscle tension (Table 5-1). 3. Behavior may be affected by anxiety and worry (Table 5-1). 4. Significant distress or impairment (Table 5-1). If the patient is showing any of these sign/ symptoms then they would be diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder (Comer, 2013, pp.115). References Comer, R. J. (2013) Abnormal Psychology, 8th Ed. New York, NY: Worth Publishers. 2. Explain in detail, from a biological perspective, how GABA is related to the experience of anxiety. What are some limitations of this explanation? (271) Before we can answer the question we fist need to understand what GABA means. It means gamma-aminobutyric acid which is a common neurotransmitter in the brain. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that carry messages from one to another. GABA has inhibitory messages that are received in the receptor which cause the neuron to stop firing. In other words if during a normal fear or anxiety reaction, key neurons start firing more rapidly, triggering the firing of more neurons creating a state of excitability throughout the body: perspiration, breathing heavily, and muscle tension increase. If the excitability keeps persisting it starts a continuous feedback system where the brain and body reduce the level of excitability by emitting GABA through some neurons which bind GABA receptors on certain neurons which stop firing which cease the feeling of fear and anxiety. So, some of the some limitations of this explanation would be having a malfunction in the feedback system which can cause fear and anxiety to go unchecked this has been proven by reducing GABA in animals which proved a rise in anxiety.

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