Being the most common mental disorder in the U.S, anxiety disorders have been the center of focus in recent years. One of the earliest and most well-known experiments related to anxiety is the Little Albert Experiment, where little Albert was trained to develop a fear toward white and furry things. As a condition that is more prevalent in women, anxiety disorders have been categorized into specific types, such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Phobias, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Common types of treatments for anxiety disorders are medications and psychotherapy. In this article, the psychological basis of anxiety disorders and their treatments will be covered.
Little Albert Experiment
Most beginning psychology classes contain the Little Albert experiment, one of the most well-known psychological experiments. It gives a concrete illustration of stimulus generalization and empirical support for classical human training. It was carried out by American psychologist John Broadus Watson and graduate student Rosalie Rayner.
Little Albert, a nine-month-old participant, was initially put through a series of simple emotional tests. His reactions were monitored when he was briefly exposed to the following objects: a white mouse, a dog, a monkey, a hairy and hairless mask, a burning newspaper, etc. It turns out that little Albert wasn't terrified of any of these things at this point.
Watson and his coworkers started their experiment two months later. Little Albert was first given access to the white mouse, who was placed next to him for playtime. He started to reach out and touch the white mouse at this point because he was no longer afraid of it. Then, as soon as Little Albert touched the white mouse, Watson and Renner hammered an ear-piercing sound into the dangling iron bar. When Little Albert heard the loud noise, he cried out in fright. After a few times of this, Albert started to grow afraid of the white mouse without any audible stimuli being produced. In addition, this fear was also effective for other similar things, such as rabbits and furry dogs. As a result, he started to cry, turn away from the white mouse, and try to flee.
The Little Albert experiment serves as an illustration of how emotional reactions can be modulated through classical conditioning. Watson and Rayner found stimulus generalization as well as evidence that human emotional reactions can be constrained. After conditioning, Little Albert developed a fear of many different similarly colored white things in addition to white mice. Other furry things, such as Rayner's fur coat and Watson sporting a Santa beard, were among his anxieties.
What is GAD?
The full name of GAD is called Generalized Anxiety Disorder. This disease is characterized by excessive, exaggerated worry and anxiety over everyday events for no discernible reason; the sufferer is not anxious about a particular thing specifically, but rather is unsure of what to be anxious about. Their anxiety is worse than it needs to be and it doesn't stop. Additionally, it causes a number of impairing symptoms as irritation, sleep problems, difficulties concentrating, etc. When a person struggles with worry control for at least six months and exhibits three or more symptoms, GAD is typically diagnosed. To address symptoms, patients may receive medication or cognitive behavioral therapy. A good diet, exercise, and an avoidance of alcohol and caffeine, which can amplify anxiety, can also assist.
What is Phobia?
Phobia is one of the symptoms of anxiety, and phobias is not under rational control. Most phobias are caused by negative experiences with specific objects or situations. Phobia can also be inherited from parents under certain circumstances. Phobia can be divided into three simple categories. The first is Specific phobias. This is the most common type of phobia. People with Specific phobias tend to panic about Specific objects or situations. The second is Social phobia, which causes people to feel panic and discomfort or anxiety about most Social situations. Finally, there's Agoraphobia, a phobia that causes people to panic in public places from which they cannot easily escape, such as large crowds.
What is PTSD?
PTSD is a short-term for post-traumatic Stress Disorder. The condition usually occurs after a person has experienced something shocking, frightening or extremely dangerous, such as the violent death of a close family member or friend. Often people with this condition feel fear after trauma, triggering changes in the body to defend themselves or avoid danger. Even when people are no longer in danger, the brain stays on high alert. Symptoms of PTSD include endless nightmares, decreased interest in hobbies, fragmented memory loss, and self-isolation. People with PTSD often need time and patience to work through their emotions. People around them also have to be relatively patient with people with PTSD to prevent them from repeatedly falling into panic attacks.
What is OCD?
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder consisting of two parts: obsession and compulsion, which form a cycle. Patients generate uncontrollable, unwanted, and persistent thoughts (obsession) that need to be eliminated through compulsions. Obsessions are usually irrational and reflect real dangers such as contamination, security, or safety; in addition, obsessions are usually accompanied by uncomfortable feelings such as fear or disgust. Patients tend to spend a minimum of 1 hour (usually more) a day on compulsions. In order to be diagnosed with OCD, symptoms have to be severe which negatively influences daily life and consumes a lot of time.
Treatments
Two main types of treatment for anxiety disorders are medications and psychotherapy. Although medications can’t help cure anxiety disorders, they can effectively reduce the symptoms that bother patients. These medications include: anti-anxiety medications, which can decrease patients’ anxiety; antidepressants, which can reduce stress and improve mood; and beta blockers, which can help reduce physical symptoms. Psychotherapy for anxiety disorders are CBT and exposure therapy. CBT is the most commonly used therapy for anxiety disorder, it leads patients to recognize the causes of the negative feelings and work to change them. Exposure therapy focuses on the fears that cause that anxiety, it exposes patient to their fears that they have been avoiding.
Most common symptoms of anxiety disorder are constant worries that can turn into panicking states. In order to reduce the chances of having severe anxiety attacks, such as panic attacks, different treatments should be used, whether they are therapies or medications. Moreover, the frequency of daily anxious incidents shouldn’t be underestimated. Being in a competitive and fast-paced world can bring a lot of daily stress and worries. The lower baseline for stress levels (more stress) can directly increase the occurrence of panic attacks. One of the most recommended methods to reduce stress at the moment is the 4-7-8 breathing technique. Anxiety is a common emotion in our daily lives, while the impact of anxiety has been widely informed to most people.
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