Psy 215 Discussion post 3
Why is it essential for a balance to exist between the sympathetic and parasympathetic
nervous systems?
The two different systems sympathetic and parasympathetic are on two ends of the spectrum.
The sympathetic nervous system puts us on high alert, called the “fight or flight” response
(Bernhard, 2011). This response is necessary for our survival since it quickly recognizes a threat
(Bernard, 2011). The parasympathetic nervous system is the complete opposite, this system
relaxes us, calming the mind and body (Bernard, 2011). A person can stimulate the
parasympathetic nervous system by using diaphragm breathing imagery or run two fingers over
the lips (Bernard, 2011).
•Contrast the anticipation that is frequently experienced in generalized anxiety with the
reaction to a phobic object in specific phobia.
Generalized anxiety Disorder (GAD) is when a person has excessive anxiety about every day
events for no obvious reason. People with symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder tend to
always expect disaster and can't stop worrying about health, money, family, work, or school
(Alvord & Halfond,, 2020). The anticipation for a GAD would be feeling high levels of anxiety
about a future event or situation (Alvord & Halfond,, 2020). There are levels of concern that are
normal, but, when the anxiety is depilating or leads to focus on a negative outcome, the anxiety
becomes problematic.
A phobic object or situation, such as fear of flying or driving over a bridge, will almost always
provide a fear or anxiety response (Hooley et. al, 2019). The person will either suffer through
the event or avoid it all together, the fear that is experienced is out of proportion to the actual
event or object (Hooley et. al, 2019).
The difference between the GAD and phobic object is that the GAD is generalized and disaster is
expected around every corner, staying in your safe home would be the typical reaction, whereas
the phobic object or event is specific to one event like driving over bridges and the person would
know that this is an extreme fear and suffer through the drive over the bridge.
•Describe one way that a therapist might help a patient activate the parasympathetic
nervous system to calm the mind and body.
To activate the parasympathetic nervous system the person would be trained to use breathing,
visual or touching techniques to help them calm down.
The breathing would be from the diaphragm, a visual would be a nice calm place like a beach or
river front and a touching technique may be using two fingers across the lips to stimulate the
parasympathetic nervous system (Bernard, 2011).
•How does an anxiety disorder apply to any of the following programmatic themes? You
may want to review the Programmatic Themes document.
The Programmatic Theme for anxiety disorders I believe would be emotional intelligence. The
definition of emotional intelligence would be for the ability to be aware of the emotion and
prepare or adapt for the expected emotion. With an anxiety disorder, the individual feels out of
control of their emotions, when they are able to use techniques to calm themselves they are
utilizing their emotional intelligence which would boost their own self confidence.
Reference
Alvord, M., & Halfond,, R. (2020). What's the difference between stress and anxiety? American
Psychological Society . https://doi.org/10.1037/e508292020-001
American Psychiatric Association. (2017). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental
disorders: Dsm-5.
Bernhard, T. (2011). 4 tips for slowing down to reduce stress. Psychology Today. Retrieved
November 7, 2021, from
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/turning-strawgold/201109/4-tips-slowing-
down-reduce-stress.
Hooley, J. M., Nock, M. K., & Butcher, J. N. (2019). Abnormal Psychology (18th Edition).
Pearson Education (US). https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/books/9780135190968
