6. Anxiety and Stressor-related Problems Flashcards
(26 cards)
What are phobias?
- irrational and extreme fear and panic associated with a specific stimulus
What are the 5 sub groups of specific phobias?
- animal
- natural environment e.g storms
- blood-injection-injury
- situational
- other
What is the criteria in the DSM-5 for specific phobia diagnosis?
- disproportionate fear related to specific object/situation
- actively avoided
- significant distress in important areas of functioning
- cannot be explained by other disorders
- persist for at least 6 months
How does the psychoanalytic account explain phobias?
- defense mechanism against anxiety
- develops at young age (often trauma at important developmental stage)
- Id, superego and ego
What are the limitations of classical conditioning as an explanation for phobias?
- not all phobias are linked to trauma e.g phobia of snakes
- trauma with a specific object does not always lead to a phobia
- specific phobias are not evenly distributed across all stimuli
- doesn’t take into account incubation: when fear increases over successive encounters
What was Seligmans idea about the biological account for specific phobias?
- we are born with a predisposition to learn fear
- not born with it
How can evolution biologically explain phobias?
- if our ancestors saw as life threatening, this is passed onto future generations
What is the preparedness theory as a biological account for phobias?
- biologically we are wired to acquire certain phobias e.g heights (those that pose a threat to us)
- can explain why some phobias are more common and why they can be experienced without exposure
How does the biological account to phobias rely on the brain?
- linear relationship between subjective fear and amygdala activation
- amygdala: mediates fear response and stores memories
How do cognitive theories explain specific phobias?
What is a limitation of this theory?
- acquired by cognitive biases/maladaptive thinking: drives the fear
- attentional biases: more likely to pay attention to what you fear
LIMITATION:
- not clear if the phobia or bias comes first
What is a fear hierarchy as an intervention for specific phobias?
- start with a low fear inducing stimulus e.g looking at a spider cartoon
- gradually make way up to highest level of fear e.g handling a large live spider
- individuals may struggle then have to go back a few steps
What can cause post-traumatic stress disorder?
- direct experience
- witness a traumatic event
- experience from a family member
- repeated exposure to details: often experienced by police officers
What is the diagnosis of PTSD?
- exposure: direct/witness
- intrusive symptoms: flashbacks/dreams
- avoid external/internal reminders
- negative changes in mood/cognitions
- increased arousal and reactivity: hyper vigilance
What are the biological factors of PTSD?
- smaller/underdeveloped hippocampus: plays a role in memory formation, memory of event may not have been processed correctly
- disconnect between pre-frontal cortex and amygdala: amygdala is overactive and no top down control
What are vulnerability factors of PTSD?
- feel overly responsible
- developmental factors
- family history
- mental defeat: negative view of world/themselves
- low IQ
- highly anxious
How can the conditioning theory explain PTSD?
trauma
- situational cues
- elicit fear response
- avoidance reinforces symptoms
What is the dual representation theory as a cognitive explanation for PTSD?
VAM: verbally accessible memory
- easily accessible information
- integrated with biographical memories
SAM: situationally accessible memory
- unconscious processing
- perception based info received from sensory channels
- records information that is not consciously processed
- e.g sound/smells
What is the cognitive restructuring intervention for PTSD?
- challenge intrusive/negative thoughts
- therapist works with individual to think of the positives
- debrief at the end of the day: process info instead of supressing
What are the interventions for PTSD?
- graded exposure
- cognitive restructuring
What is OCD?
based on…
- obsessions
- compulsions
intrusive thoughts:
- struggle to ignore (cause distress)
- engage in compulsions that relieve anxiety
What is the OCD cycle?
obsessions - sever anxiety - compulsions - relief
- cycle continues
What is involved in the diagnosis of OCD?
- prescience of obsessions
- compulsions
- idea that behaviour will stop a catastrophic event
- difficulty in other functioning
- cannot be explained by other disorders
What are the biological factors of OCD?
- heritability component shown by twin studies
- frontal lobe and basil ganglia identified: increased blood flow when shown a triggering stimuli
- onset can be associated with traumatic injury
What are the psychological factors of OCD?
memory deficits: give rise to doubting
3 forms….
- general deficit
- less confidence validity of memory
- unable to determine between reality and imagination
