Anxiety Disorders Flashcards

1
Q

What is an anxiety disorder?

A

A type of psychological disorder in which anxiety is the prominent feature

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2
Q

How can anxiety be adaptive?

A

It can prompt us to seek medical attention, to study for an upcoming test, or to avoid a dangerous situation

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3
Q

How can anxiety be maladaptive?

A

When the level of anxiety is out of proportion to the level of threat or when it occurs out of the blue, and not a response to environmental changes

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4
Q

What are some physical features of anxiety disorders?

A

Jumpiness, jitters, increased perspiration and heart rate, shortness of breath, dizziness, nausea

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5
Q

What are some behavioural features of anxiety disorders?

A

Need to escape or avoid a situation, agitation, clinginess, need for reassurance

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6
Q

What are some cognitive features of anxiety disorders?

A

Excessive and prolonged worrying, overly aware of bodily sensations, jumbled thoughts, nagging thoughts

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7
Q

Is anxiety normal in children?

A

Yes, childhood anxieties and fear are a normal feature of childhood
Childhood fears are commonplace and are usually outgrown naturally
Only considered abnormal when excessive and interferes with normal functioning

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8
Q

What is a panic attack?

A

Intense anxiety reactions accompanied by physical symptoms such as a pounding heart, rapid respiration, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing

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9
Q

How long do panic attacks typically last?

A

They usually peak in intensity at 10 minutes are last for 20 minutes

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10
Q

What is panic disorder?

A

Repeated, unexpected panic attacks
Feelings of terror/doom and an urge to escape
Feels like having a heart attack
Can occur from a calm state or an anxious state

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11
Q

What is agoraphobia?

A

A fear of places and situations from which it might be difficult or embarrassing to escape

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12
Q

When does agoraphobia typically begin?

A

Late adolescence to mid twenties

More common in women than men

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13
Q

What is generalized anxiety disorder?

A

Characterized by persistent feelings of anxiety that are not triggered by anything specifically
Formerly referred to as free-floating anxiety

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14
Q

What are some other symptoms of GAD?

A

Restlessness, feeling tense or on edge, easily fatigued, difficulty concentrating, irritability, muscle tension, difficulty sleeping

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15
Q

When does GAD typically begin?

A

Mid-teens to mid-20’s
More common in women
A comorbidity with depressive, anxiety, or obsessive-compulsive disorders

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16
Q

What are phobic disorders?

A

Persistent fears of objects of situations that are disproportionate to the threats they pose
Usually involve fears of the ordinary things in life

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17
Q

What are the two types of phobic disorders?

A

Specific phobia

Social anxiety disorder

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18
Q

What are specific phobias?

A

Persistent but excessive fears of a specific object or situation
Animals, heights, closed spaces

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19
Q

What are the 5 diagnostic subtypes of specific phobias?

A
Animal type
Natural environment type
Blood-injection-injury type
Situational type
Other types
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20
Q

What is social anxiety disorder?

A

Excessive fear of negative evaluations from others
People with social anxiety disorders often worry about their social presentation and may avoid social situations altogether

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21
Q

Is separation anxiety normal in children?

A

Yes, it is normal for children to show anxiety when they are separated from their caregivers

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22
Q

What is separation anxiety disorder?

A

When the separation anxiety is persistent and excessive or inappropriate for the child’s developmental level
Development typically follows a stressful life event

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23
Q

What is obsessive-compulsive disorder?

A

Recurrent obsession, compulsions, or both that occupy more than an hour a day and cause marked distress or significantly interfere with normal routines

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24
Q

What is an obsession?

A

An intrusive, unwanted, and recurrent though, image, or urge that seems beyond a person’s ability to control

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25
Q

What is a compulsion?

A

Repetitive behaviour or mental act that a person feels compelled or driven to perform and often occur in response to obsessional thoughts

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26
Q

What are the two categories of compulsion?

A

Checking rituals

Cleaning rituals

27
Q

How does the psychodynamic perspective view anxiety disorders?

A

Anxiety disorders are attempts by the ego to control the conscious emergence of threatening impulses
The ego will mobilize defence mechanisms to divert these impulses

28
Q

How do learning and behaviour theorists view anxiety disorder?

A

They explain anxiety disorders through conditioning and observational learning

29
Q

What is the two-factor model?

A

Both operant and classical conditioning are involved in the acquisition of phobias

30
Q

How are phobias maintained?

A

They are maintained by operant conditioning

31
Q

What is prepared conditioning?

A

The belief that people are genetically prepared to acquire phobias are certain stimuli that threaten our survival

32
Q

What are self-defeating beliefs?

A

They heighten and perpetuate anxiety disorders

33
Q

What are irrational beliefs?

A

May involve exaggerated needs to be approved of by everyone one meets and to avoid any situation in which negative appraisal from others might arise

34
Q

What is oversensitivity to threats?

A

People with anxiety perceive danger in situations that most people consider safe

35
Q

What is anxiety sensitivity?

A

A fear of fear

A fear that ones emotions or states of bodily arousal will get our of control, leading to harmful consequences

36
Q

What are misattributions for panic attacks?

A

Panic attacks involve catastrophic misinterpretations of such bodily sensations as heart palpitations, dizziness, or light-headedness

37
Q

What is the cognitive model of panic disorder?

A

Subjective threat
Misinterpretations of bodily sensations
Intensification of bodily sensations
Increased anxiety and fear

38
Q

What is the role of genetic factors in anxiety disorders?

A

Higher concordance of anxiety rates in identical twins

Genes with broad effects for anxiety may be linked to neuroticism

39
Q

How do people with high levels of neuroticism behave?

A

Tend to cope poorly with stress and frequently experience feelings of anxiety, anger, guilt, and depression

40
Q

What is GABA?

A

An inhibitory neurotransmitter that plays a role regulating anxiety
Inadequate action of GABA may contribute to states of anxiety

41
Q

What are benzodiazepines?

A

Class of minor tranquilizers that include valium and Ativan

42
Q

How do dysfunctions with serotonin or norepinephrine affect people?

A

May cause anxiety disorders

43
Q

What is the fear network?

A

Responses to fear are mediated by the fear network
Centred in the amygdala
Involve interaction with the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex

44
Q

How are OCD and the brain linked?

A

Patients with OCD exhibit increased activity in the neurotransmitter circuits between the cortex, basal ganglia, and thalamus
Lack of inhibitory effect on the OCD pathway

45
Q

What are social-environmental factors for anxiety disorders?

A
Threatening of traumatic events
Observing fear responses in others 
Challenging demands in new situations
Cultural factors leading to socialization in passive or dependent roles 
Lack of social support
46
Q

What behavioural factors for anxiety disorders?

A

Conditioning experiences

Lack of extinction opportunities

47
Q

What are emotional and cognitive factors for anxiety disorders?

A
Unresolved psychological conflicts 
Cognitive factors
-self-defeating or irrational thinking
-catastrophic misinterpretations of bodily cues 
-oversensitivity to threats 
-low self-efficacy
48
Q

What are biological factors for anxiety disorders?

A

Genetic predisposition
Disturbances in neurotransmitter activity or suffocation alarm system
Abnormalities in brain circuits involved in signalling danger or inhibiting repetitive behaviours

49
Q

What is the psychodynamic approach to treating psychology?

A

Foster awareness of how clients anxiety disorders symbolize their inner conflicts so that the ego can be freed from expending its energy on repression

50
Q

What is the humanistic approach to treating psychology?

A

Aim at helping people get in touch with and express their genuine talents and feelings
Clients become free to discover and accept their true selves

51
Q

What are SSRIs?

A

Antidepressant common for treating panic disorder

OCD responds to SSRIs

52
Q

What are SNRIs?

A

New drug that helps reduce anxiety symptoms

53
Q

What is systematic desensitization?

A

A gradual process in which clients learn to handle progressively more disturbing stimuli while they remain relaxed

54
Q

What is the fear-stimulus hierarchy?

A

Ordered series of increasingly fearful stimuli

55
Q

What is gradual exposure?

A

Help people overcome phobias through a stepwise approach of actual exposure to the phobic stimuli
Effective for social anxiety disorder

56
Q

What is flooding?

A

A type of exposure where subjects are exposed to intensely anxiety-provoking situations

57
Q

What is cognitive restructuring?

A

Involves replacing irrational or self-defeating thoughts with rational alternatives

58
Q

What is the best way to treat agoraphobia?

A

Gradual exposure to fear-inducing stimuli

59
Q

How is PTSD treated?

A

With exposure therapy

Exposure cues may involve talking about trauma, re-experiencing the trauma in imagination

60
Q

How is OCD treated?

A

Behaviour therapy works great with a combination of exposure and response prevention

61
Q

How is GAD treated?

A

Use a combination of techniques

  • relaxation training
  • substitution of adaptive thoughts for intrusive, anxiety-inducing thoughts
  • decatastrophizing
62
Q

How is separation anxiety treated?

A

Strengthen the child’s sense of autonomy and self-efficacy

Exposure

63
Q

How is panic disorder treated?

A

Training in skills to handle panic attacks
Breathing retraining
Exposure to situations linked to panic attacks