Chapter 3: Anxiety Disorders

Question 1

What is the prevalence of anxiety disorders?

Answer 1

17%

Question 2

When is anxiety in children considered abnormal?

Answer 2

When excessive and interfering with normal academic or social functioning.

Question 3

What is Panic Disorder?

Answer 3

An anxiety disorder characterized by repeated, unexpected panic attacks. Consistent with feelings of terror/doom and an urge to escape.

Question 4

What is the prevalence of Panic Disorder?

Answer 4

1-5%.

Question 5

What is agoraphobia?

Answer 5

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

Question 6

What gender is agoraphobia most common in?

Answer 6

Women.

Question 7

When is the onset of agoraphobia? prevalence?

Answer 7

Late adolescence, 2%

Question 8

What is generalized anxiety disorder?

Answer 8

Anxiety disorder characterized by persistent feelings of dread and heightened sympathetic arousal.

Question 9

What gender is GAD more common in? what is the prevalence? onset?

Answer 9

• Women.
• 8.7%
• Mid-teens to mid-20s.

Question 10

What is GAD comorbid with?

Answer 10

Depression, OCD, anxiety disorders.

Question 11

What are phobic disorders? What are the two types?

Answer 11

Disorders characterized by a persistent fear of objects or situations that are disproportionate to the threats they pose.

• Specific phobias.
• Social anxiety disorder.

Question 12

What are the five diagnostic subtypes of specific phobia?

Answer 12

1. Animal type.
2. Natural environment type.
3. Blood-injection-injury type.
4. Situational type.
5. Other.

Question 13

What is social anxiety disorder? What subtype is more prevalent in men? women?

Answer 13

Excessive fear of negative evaluations from others.

Men: dating situations.
Women: speaking to authoritative figures and eating/drinking in front of others.

Question 14

What is the prevalence of social anxiety disorder?

Answer 14

3%-13%

Question 15

What is separation anxiety disorder?

Answer 15

Extreme fears of separation from parents or others on whom one is dependent.

Question 16

What is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?

Answer 16

Recurrent obsessions, compulsions, or both that occupy more than an hour a day and cause marked distress or significantly interfere with normal routines or occupational or social functioning.

Question 17

What is the prevalence of OCD?

Answer 17

1%

Question 18

What is an obsession?

Answer 18

An intrusive, unwanted or recurrent thought that seems beyond a person’s ability to control.

Question 19

What is a compulsion?

Answer 19

Repetitive behavior or mental act that a person feels compelled or driven to perform and often occur in response to obsessional thought.

Question 20

What are the two categories of compulsions?

Answer 20

Checking rituals and cleaning rituals.

Question 21

What is the psychodynamic perspective on anxiety disorders?

Answer 21

Anxiety is an attempt by the ego to control the conscious emergence of threatening impulses. The ego uses defence mechanisms to divert these impulses via projection and displacement.

Question 22

What is the learning perspective on anxiety disorders?

Answer 22

Anxiety disorders are learned through conditioning and observational learning.

Question 23

What is the cognitive perspective on anxiety disorders?

Answer 23

Self-defeating/irrational beliefs and oversensitivity in response to a subjective threat. Results in misinterpretation of bodily sensations and therefore intensification.

Question 24

What is the biological perspective of anxiety disorders?

Answer 24

Genetic factors, NT levels, networking (neural connections)

Question 25

What are the biological theories surrounding anxiety? (NT)

Answer 25

Low levels of GABA, high levels of serotonin/Norepinephrine or receptor dysfunction.

Question 26

What are benzodiazepines?

Answer 26

Minor tranquilizers.

Question 27

What is a biological perspective on OCD?

Answer 27

Increased activity between cortex, basal ganglia, and thalamus.

Question 28

What are biological treatments for anxiety?

Answer 28

SNRIs/SSRIs antidepressants, tranquilizers (benzodiazepines)

Question 29

What are cognitive-behavioral based treatments?

Answer 29

Treatment of phobia; - systematic desensitization via fear-stimulus hierarchy, gradual exposure, and flooding. - cognitive restructuring.

Question 30

What is the projected lifetime risk for PTSD?

Answer 30

9.2%

Question 31

Which professionals are at greatest risk for PTSD?

Answer 31

Military, EMS, Police.

Question 32

What are the defining symptoms of PTSD?

Answer 32

Re-experiencing, avoidance, hyperarousal, negative alternations in mood or thinking.

Question 33

What is acute stress disorder?

Answer 33

Traumatic stress reaction occurring in the days and weeks following exposure to a traumatic event (4 weeks for less).

Question 34

What is post traumatic stress disorder?

Answer 34

Impaired functioning following exposure to a traumatic experience, symptoms persist for at least one month and may last decades.

Question 35

How are the hippocampi of severe PTSD inflicted individuals different from neurotypical people?

Answer 35

The hippocampi are smaller, and damaged.

Question 36

What is trauma?

Answer 36

An imprint of a life-threatening event that continues to replay in the present; affects the brain and body.

Question 37

Why is perceived control critical in dealing with trauma?

Answer 37

When there is no perceived control, an individual is more likely to develop trauma reactions.

Question 38

What are differences in the prefrontal cortex seen with PTSD?

Answer 38

Dysfunctional though processing and decision making, inappropriate responses to situations.

Question 39

What are differences in the amygdala seen with PTSD?

Answer 39

Fight/flight responses to memories or thoughts about trauma or danger.

Question 40

What are the "red-flags" of PTSD?

Answer 40

- Frequent sick days. - Angry/irritability. - Interpersonal difficulties. - Recklessness. - Nightmares. - Apathy. - Unhealthy coping (drugs). - Avoidance. - Suicidal ideation.

Question 41

What are risk factors for PTSD?

Answer 41

- Trauma intensity (death). - Length of the traumatic event. - Sustaining personal injury. - Perception of control. - Level of support following event.

Question 42

What are key ways to prevent PTSD?

Answer 42

1. Acknowledge that you are not immune. 2. Find an outlet. 3. Self-care. 4. Choose to be around healthy people. 5. Define yourself by more than your duty/job. 6. Avoid "stuffing" in feelings.

Question 43

What is done before commencing trauma processing during treatment? (Clinician)

Answer 43

1. Provide info on the process. 2. Obtain consent. 3. Develop grounding strategies. 4. Create trauma inventory. 5. Consider frequency of sessions. 6. Enlist outside support.

Question 44

What three forms of exposure therapy are used in PTSD treatment?

Answer 44

Prolonged exposure, imaginal exposure, in vivo exposure.

Question 45

What is imaginal exposure?

Answer 45

The patient describes the traumatic events in detail in the present tense with guidance.

Question 46

What is in vivo exposure?

Answer 46

Involves confronting feared stimuli outside of therapy in a gradual fashion.

Question 47

In what 4 ways does exposure therapy help treat PTSD?

Answer 47

1. Habituation. 2. Extinction. 3. Self-efficacy. 4. Emotional processing.

Question 48

What is cognitive processing therapy?

Answer 48

A specific type of CBT that helps patients learn how to modify and challenge unhelpful beliefs related to trauma.

Question 49

What is eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy?

Answer 49

-Encourages client to focus on trauma memory while simultaneously experiencing bilateral stimulation. Intended to change the way the memory is stored in the brain.