Chapter 5 - Anxiety Flashcards
(16 cards)
what is the textbook definition of anxiety
Textbook Definition of Anxiety: State of mood characterized by negative affect and bodily symptoms of tension in which a person apprehensively anticipates future danger.
what is a panic attack and what does unexpected vs expected mean
Panic Attack: Sudden overwhelming fright of terror of abrupt experiences of intense fear that carries significant physical symptoms.
- Fear of experiencing panic attacks
Expected: Recognizing a cue that brings on panic attacks. (Can we related to phobia).
Unexpected: Cant identify a particular cause or onset of a panic attack (can happen while we are sleeping). – these are more common among panic disorder.
what are some biological contributions of anxiety
Biological contributions: We can have a genetic tendency is to inherit negatice affect (a collection of genes, never just one).
- NT, GAPA (lack of inhibition), serotnonin (mood regulator) and norepinephrine (alarm response) play a role in anxiety
- Associated with the limbic system
- Balandce between the limbic system (emotional) and the PFC (executive functioning: recognizing, rationalizing), we can understand that there may be an imbalance between these parts of the brain
what does it mean that anxiety is comorbid
Comorbidity: Common for people to have anxiety with another disorder like depressive, other anxiety disorders and physical conditions (thyroid, gastrointestinal).
what are some psychological contributions to anxiety
Psychological contributions: Anxiety reflects a future orientation to uncertainty or chaos. Si we can understand anxiety as a signal in a need to add certainty to uncertainty.
- Feeling like if we think hard enough about it, we can figure it out. This can make anxiety worse.
- We can explore anxiety through early attachment pattern, of certainty, presence of caregivers that helps us to regulate our emotional system which can possibly lead to an increase in anxious thoughts.
what are some social contributions to anxiety
Social Contributions: Continue to grow in this way of initial attachment, we can project that into our social experiences, depending on others to regulate. To what extent is that founded on interpersonal desire and codependency.
- The experience of anxiety is the same across disorders, the only difference diagnostically is what the focus of the anxiety is about.
what does it mean triple vulnerability to anxiety
Triple Vulnerability of anxiety:
1. Generalized biological vulnerability: Possible inherited vulnerability of beign uptight
2. Generalized psychological anxiety: In terms of our attachment we come to view that the world is out of our control and becomes a default way of moving throughout the world
3. Specific psychological vulnerable: learning that certain things are dangerous (e.g. having a parent being afraid of dogs compared to someone who grew up with dogs)
- These can contribute to having anxiety later in life.
- 12% of Canadians 12 or older (10% for women, 6% for men)
what is panic disorder. what is the anxiety directed toward? what is the lifetime prevalence and what is nocturnal panic? More in men or women? how common is noctural panic
Panic Disorder: Recurrent and unexpected panic attacks
anxiety toward having a panic attack.
- Lifetime prevalence: 3.5% ¾ of these are women.
- 60% of people with panic attacks have nocturnal panic (1:30 to 3:30pm)
Nocturnal Panic: When we drop into a deeper level of sleep, there’s a pseudoscientific belief that we let ourselves go which can be paired with panic response.
Isolated Sleep Paralysis:
what is agoraphobia. what is the anxiety towards? what i lifetime prevalence and what is iteroceptive avoidance? what disorder is it highly comorbid with?
Agoraphobia: Anxiety about being in places or situations where escape might be difficult.
- Fear of being out in the world
- Clinically significant distress: Very subjective.
- High levels of comorbidity with panic disorder
Interoceptive Avoidance: Because anxiety is such a somatic experience and the experiences are not only experienced in anxiety, we can develop maladaptive ways of avoiding these experiences:
- E.g. Can classically condition yourself to acoid situations that cause bodily functions. (physical responses to working out which has similar reactions to what occurred)
- General relationship to anxiety of protecting ourselves from threats but can become problematic
what is GAD? what is the anxiety oriented towards? what is the lifetime prevalence, does it last a while? what are a few symptoms? Mostly male or female?
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): Excessive anxiety and worry occurring more days than not. The worry is indiscriminate.
- Treatments are good that bring us back to the present.
- Has an earlier onset in life compared to other anxiety disorders and tends to be longer lasting.
- Lifetime Prevalence: Canada 2%, lifetime 9%
- Approx. 2/3rds female – more developed countries have greater gender discrepancy
- Diagnosed earlier and more chronic, it often shows up as physical expressions.
fatigue, irritability, trouble sleeping
what are the 4 cognitive characteristics of GAD?
Four cognitive characteristics:
1. Intolerance of uncertainty: We distressing to exist in uncertain cognitive spaces
2. Positive beliefs about worry: Tendency to have positive beliefs of worry (i.e. if I just do enough thinking about this it’ll get solved – rumination)
3. Poor problem orientation: Develop or have a tendency to view problems as threats we need to avoid as opposed to challenges that need to be met.
- Better to build a window of tolerance. Sit in discomfort and expand the ability to tolerate instead of interoceptive avoidance.
- Resilience is the ability to bend and not break.
4. Cognitive avoidance: Avoiding what’s going on internally and trying to forget about it.
what is specific phobia? what are the 4 types? what are they caused by?
Specific Phobia: Irrational fear of a specific object of situation that markedly interferes with the ability to function.
1. Animal: Average age of onset ~7 years old.
2. Natural Environment: Fear of heights, storms or water (~7 years old)
3. Blood-injury-injection: Fear of needles and blood (~9 years old)
4. Situational subtype: Plains, enclosed spaces (~20-25 years old)
5. Other: Really anything can be a phobia.
- Paired fear response with object
- Overwhelmingly female prevalence expect for fear of heights which is predominantly male.
- More chronic because most of these phobias people learn how to avoid them.
Caused by: Direct experience or vicarious (seeing others experience it), or a false alarm
What is social anxiety disorder? what is the specifier? lifetime prevelance? onset?
Social Anxiety Disorder/Social Phobia: Fear of evaluationa dn rejection in relationships and from people.
- Most prevalent disorder in the US (13.3% lifetime prevalence) ~15 years old (inclusion and acceptance of people)
fear only when performing in front or people or public speaking.
what is selective mutism, what is it highly comorbid with? Does it tend to be the primary diagnosis?
Selective Mutism: rare childhood disorder where child develops lack of speech in particular settings or people.
- High comorbidity with other anxiety disorders (tends to not be primary diagnosis.
explain the treatments for anxiety disorders.
Benzodiazepines: For anxiety, acts on GABA, work quickly. Helps with panic disorders. Concerns is that they are addictive and they are lowkey tranquilizers.
- Prescribed for more short term things
Anti-Depressants: SSRIs and SNRIs helpful for mood
Brief psychological treatments:
- CBT: Centralize location of anxiety thoughts and see if we can reframe into other emotional and behavioural responses.
- Mindfulness: Returning to our present moment. DO what we can to develop strategies and orientations to be present. Which can help us to be present and confront the anxious emotional and somatic experiences.
- Panic Control Treatment (PCT): Combination of CBT and bhevaioural treatment components (exposing them to threatening stimuli and work in the moment)
- Exposure Therapies:
o Feather Phobia:
o Virtual Reality:
why is it controversial to classify anxiety disorders
Differentiating the symptoms from the cause.
- There can be overlap related to diagnoses for trauma and anxiety
