Cognitive biases associated with anxiety.
Anxiety disorders are one of the most common psychological disorders. They have a debilitating impact on an individual which often makes completing everyday tasks near impossible. There are a broad range of different anxiety disorders which have varying impacts on an individual’s functioning. Many anxiety disorders involve intrusive thoughts that heavily influence the way in which a person interprets their experience (Anthony and Stein, 2009).
There are a wide range of anxiety disorders that can affect individuals in different ways. An example of an anxiety disorder is Panic Disorder. This is an anxiety disorder where individuals experience reoccurring panic attacks that can be unpredictable and cause a sudden onset of fear and agitation. Wittchen et al, (1998) found that a majority of participants in various studies reported having at least one form of panic attack throughout their lifetime.
Another widely studied form of anxiety disorder is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This is characterised by repetitive behaviours that aim to reduce threat to themselves. This may involve continuous cleaning in order to eliminate bacteria that the sufferer thinks may cause harm to an individual. This is one of the least common anxiety disorders and is likely to only affect only three percent of the population in a lifetime (Horwarth and Weissman, 2000).
