ANXIETY and PHOBIA DISORDERS

Human Evolution“We are the children of Og.”

- “For most of the time that anatomically modern humans have existed—a highly contested figure, but let’s call it a million years—it has made good ADAPTIVE sense to be fearful, cautious, timid. . . We have been hardwired to emphasize the negative, and, for most of human history, there has been a lot of the negative to emphasize.”

(e.g., Albert Alexander & penicillin, 1940)

- This is a matter of how our brains are wired: most sense data pass through the amygdala, which helps control our fight-or-flight response, before being processed by other parts of our cerebral cortex. The feeling that a fright can make us “jump half out of our skin” is based on this physical reality—we’re reacting long before we know what it is that we’re reacting to.

Getting That “6th Sense” with Good & Bad Decks of Cards

The Adaptive Unconscious as an “Internal Computer”As a form of rapid cognition, it quickly and quietly processes a lot of the data

we need in order to keep functioning (e.g., speed-dating).

We toggle back and forth between conscious, deliberative decision-making and unconscious, more spontaneous decision-making.

e.g., Prof. Nalini Ambady’s “teacher rating” experiment:

started with 10-second silent video clips, then 5-second clips and

then finally two-second clips . . .

= end-of-the-semester full student evaluations

Our adaptive unconscious still makes mistakes; it can be thrown off, distracted and disabled, but it tends to be for specific and consistent reasons (e.g., auditions for symphonies).

Human Personality/Temperament: How We Become What We AreHans Eysenck3 big common emotions:

Fear (to avoid danger)

Aggression (to fight it)

Sociability (to face it)

Human Personality/Temperament: How We Become What We Are

Melancholics are in for more trouble in life, because their stress response spikes frequently and ebbs slowly (frequently anxious, inhibited or reactive – worn down).

Often cultivate avoidant ways of life (have high levels of norepinephrine).

Cholerics respond to stress by going into fight mode (aggressive, impulsive, or irritable, they often strike out and blame others rather than experience intense pain and defeat.

(have low levels of norepinephrine & serotonin)

Human Personality/Temperament: How We Become What We Are

Og Ig

Risk-averse Risk-lovinggood at “executive functioning” stimulated by stressmore writers, painters, composers more test pilots, generals

Implicationse.g., clowns at birthday parties

society needs both temperaments/personalities (lab scientists & generals)

critical role of “the will” and environment (e.g., monkeys in zoos and the wild)

environment (e.g., rat experiments w/shocks, stress, and the CNS)

Does society discourage inhibition in boys and, as a result, does this help to explain why mood disorders are less common among men?

For women, the greatest stress continues to be trouble with relationships. Are males physiologically and, thus, psychologically, less sensitive to the social issues that upset females?

“Selling Shyness”: Are We Pathologizing Og?Ostensibly 1 in 8 Americans suffers from “Social Phobia” (allergic to people).

Similar development as “major depression” but very different than schizophrenia

1980 DSM-III (prevalence rate: 2-3% of the population)fear focused on 1 activity and compelled avoidance

1987 DSM-III-R (prevalence rate 8-13%)includes a new generalized subtype & more comprehensive screening questionnaires removes the phrase “a compelling desire to avoid” from diagnostic criteria and

replaces it with “marked distress”

1994 DMS-IV (prevalence rate: approx. 13%)

“Selling Shyness”: Are We Pathologizing Og?Opportunity costs for pharmaceutical development are

considerable (new antibiotics vs. Paxil, Viagra, etc.)

- National Screening Days (

“Selling Shyness”: Are We Pathologizing Og?

ADAA "Triumph" Wristbands Wear "Triumph" to show your support& let

people know they are not alone.    

Through research, education and treatment, the Anxiety Disorders Association of America has been improving lives and providing hope for 25 years for the more than 40 million adult Americans suffering from panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder and phobias.Michelle Cottle, “Selling Shyness”More likely, this “epidemic” represents yet another step in the culture’s crusade to medicalize any

trait—physical or behavioral—that does not measure up to the elusive ideals generated by pop culture, advertising, and shifting moral and political norms. And the more people by into these culturally defined ideals, the less tolerant we become of those who don’t.

“People in America (not China or Japan) tend to assume that the natural tendency of people is to be outgoing. Indeed, one wonders how much of the nation’s social phobia epidemic stems from our growing sense that everyone should be aggressive, assertive, and strive for the limelight… And if we have to put 1/8th of the population on expensive medication to bring them into line, then so be it.”