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ELAIZA P. ABELLO
GLYDEL L. TASANI
What is Anxiety?
An abnormal and overwhelming sense of apprehension and fear often marked by
physiologic signs (as sweating, tension, and increased pulse), by doubt concerning
the reality and nature of the threat, and by self-doubt about ones capacity to cope
with it.
Anxiety: an aversive inner state that people seek to avoid or escape.
Reality Anxiety: the most basic form, rooted in reality. Fear of a dog bite,
fear arising from an impending accident. (Ego Based Anxiety). Most Common
Tension Reduction Method: Removing oneself from the harmful situation.
Neurotic Anxiety: Anxiety which arises from an unconscious fear that the
libidinal impulses of the ID will take control at an in opportune time. This type
of anxiety is driven by a fear of punishment that will result from expressing
the ID's desires without proper sublimation.
Moral Anxiety: Anxiety which results from fear of violating moral or societal
codes, moral anxiety appears as guilt or shame.
Defining characteristics:
Problems sleeping.
Shortness of breath.
Heart palpitations.
Dry mouth.
Types of Anxiety
Sigmund Freud
Levels of Anxiety
Mild Anxiety
At this level, youre likely open-minded, although stressed. You might experience
this level of anxiety as you await a job performance review or if you're lost in a new
city. Symptoms might include fidgeting, irritability, sweaty palms and
heightened senses. Mild anxiety is typically motivational, meaning it helps you
focus on seeking a solution to the challenge you face.
Moderate Anxiety
Severe Anxiety
With severe anxiety, symptoms intensify and others develop, such as a pounding
heartbeat, chest pain, headache, vomiting or diarrhea, trembling,
scattered thoughts, erratic behavior and a sense of dread. With severe
anxiety, your ability to focus and solve problems is impaired, which can lead to
further anxiety. You may not even be able to recognize or take care of your own
needs. Attempts of others to redirect your attention are likely to be unsuccessful.
Panic-Level Anxiety
A. Physiologic
The physical symptoms of anxiety refer to how we experience anxiety in our bodies.
Examples include:
Sweaty palms;
A racing heart;
Hot flashes;
Chills;
B. Psychologic
The psychological symptoms of anxiety may include:
and Secondly, defense mechanisms are triggered. These are tactics which the
Ego develops to help deal with the ID and the Super Ego.
Repression
Sometimes referred to as: defensiveness
Repression can be conscious but is most commonly unconscious.
Advantages:
Can prevent inappropriate ID impulses from becoming behaviors.
Can prevent unpleasant thoughts from becoming conscious.
Can prevent memories of things we have done wrong from resurfacing.
Repression does not have to be total, partial memories where only the single piece
of damaging information is "forgotten" is common.
Denial
When people are overwhelmed by the anxiety present within a situation, they can
engage an even more severe form of memory repression.
Denial becomes more difficult with age, as the ego matures and understands more
about the "objective reality" it must operate within.
Repression and Denial are the two main defense mechanisms which everybody
uses.
Projection
In projection, anxiety is reduced by claiming another person actually has the
unpleasant thoughts that you are thinking. You are attributing your own repressed
thoughts to someone else.
Rationalization
This is a post-hoc (after the fact) defense mechanism.
Rationalization allows to find logical reasons for inexcusable actions. Rationalization
helps to protect our sense of self-esteem
Rationalization is closely tied to the Self-serving Bias : The tendency to interpret
success as inwardly achieved and to ascribe failure to outside factors.
Intellectualization
Thinking about events in cold, hard, rational terms.
Separating oneself from the emotional content of an event, focusing instead on the
facts.
Intellectualization protects against anxiety by repressing the emotions connected
with an event.
Regression
Because of partial fixations in any of the psychosexual stages of development,
regression can occur when an individual is faced with high levels of stress in their
life.
Regression is the giving up of mature problem solving methods in favor of child like
approaches to fixing problems.
Displacement
Displacement is the shifting of intended targets, especially when the initial target is
threatening.
The classic use of displacement is in the understanding of displaced aggression.
Level 1 - Pathological
Splitting: A primitive defense. Negative and positive impulses are split off
and unintegrated. Fundamental example: An individual views other people as
either innately good or innately evil, rather than a whole continuous being.
Level 2 - Immature
Fantasy: Tendency to retreat into fantasy in order to resolve inner and outer
conflicts.
Level 3 - Neurotic
Level 4 - Mature
Humor: Overt expression of ideas and feelings (especially those that are
unpleasant to focus on or too terrible to talk about) that gives pleasure to
others. The thoughts retain a portion of their innate distress, but they are
"skirted round" by witticism.
CRISIS
TYPES OF CRISIS
Life events- the birth of a child, loss of a loved one, a child moving out, an
irrigational child, or any disturbance to daily activities.
CHARACTERISTICS OF CRISIS
A. Presence of both danger and opportunity are in a crisis. Danger can exist when a
crisis overwhelms the person, bringing them to a point of suicide. Opportunity is
possible because of the chance for self-growth and self-realization while the person
receives help. Three ways of reacting to a crisis are;
They can break down psychologically and be unable to go on with their lives
until they receive intense assistance.
C. Anxiety always accompanies crisis but it must often reach the boiling point before
it is addressed by the individual.
D. The quick fixes did not work in the first place and it takes time to work through
the crisis.
E. To choose to do nothing is a choice. When one chooses to do something it gives
an opportunity for setting goals and overcoming the dilemma.
F. Everyone has the ability to have a crisis overcome them and be unable to use
their own coping mechanisms.
CRISIS INTERVENTION