Exam 2.1

Question 1

What is the historical distinction between fear and anxiety?

Answer 1

Fear: There is a specific origin of threat
Anxiety: Danger is less specific

Question 2

What is the contemporary distinction between fear and anxiety?

Answer 2

Fear: Activation of fight-or-flight response in reaction to immediate danger
Anxiety: Complex blend of emotions and cognitive processes

Question 3

What are anxiety disorders categorized by?

Answer 3

Unrealistic, irrational fears that cause significant distress and impairs functioning

Question 4

What are the 5 anxiety disorders?

Answer 4

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
• Social Anxiety Disorder
• Specific Phobia
• Panic Disorder
• Agoraphobia

Question 5

What are the clinical features of specific phobias?

Answer 5

• Severe, persistent fear of a specific object/situation
• Fear causes distress and impairs functioning
• Experiencer takes extensive measures to avoid any possibility of encountering the object of fear

Question 6

What are the main subtypes of specific phobias?

Answer 6

• Animals
• Blood-injection-injury
• Situational
• Other

Question 7

What is a causal factor of specific phobias from a psychoanalytical perspective?

Answer 7

• Defense against stress from the id’s repressed impulses
• Id’s repressed impulses are projected onto a symbolic, external object

Question 8

What other causal factors are considered to be related to specific phobias?

Answer 8

• Learned, conditioned responses
• Genetic and temperamental variables

Question 9

What is a common treatment for specific phobias?

Answer 9

Exposure therapy

Question 10

What are some clinical features of social anxiety?

Answer 10

• Fears of 1+ social situations that cause distress and impairs functioning
• Preoccupation with the possibility of negative evaluation

Question 11

What are some causal factors of social anxiety?

Answer 11

• Conditioned, learned responses
• Genetic predisposition to qualities such as behavioral inhibition
• Cognitive bias

Question 12

What are some clinical features of panic disorder?

Answer 12

• Recurrent, spontaneous panic attacks
• Fear of the persisting symptoms

Question 13

What is one of the causal factors of panic disorder?

Answer 13

Genetic predisposition to traits such as neuroticism

Question 14

What is the amygdala?

Answer 14

• Located in hippocampus
• Critically involved in emotions and fear

Question 15

What are some clinical features of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)?

Answer 15

• Chronic, excessive, and unreasonable worry
• Lasting 6+ months
• Anxious apprehension

Question 16

What is a causal factor of GAD, according to Psychoanalytic Theory?

Answer 16

• Unconscious conflict between the impulses of the id and ego
• Unconscious conflicts are not properly dealt with due to underdeveloped or disrupted defense mechanisms

Question 17

What are some causal factors of GAD, according to Biological Theory?

Answer 17

• Abnormal activity of neurotransmitters norepinephrine and serotonin
• Amygdala overactivation

Question 18

What are some causal factors of GAD, according to Learning Theory?

Answer 18

Developments of associating external cues with internal reactions

Question 19

What are some causal factors of GAD, according to Cognitive Theory?

Answer 19

The condition may develop in individuals that are more susceptible to having exaggerated interpretations of bodily sensations

Question 20

What is the estimated heritability rate of GAD?

Answer 20

30%

Question 21

What are common treatments to GAD?

Answer 21

• Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
• Medication

Question 22

What are some clinical features of obsessive-compulsive disorder?

Answer 22

• Intrusive thoughts and obsessions
• Compulsive behaviors whose purpose is to relieve the thoughts
• No longer an anxiety disorder; it is in its own category in the DSM-V, “Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders”

Question 23

What are common therapies for obsessive-compulsive disorder?

Answer 23

Cognitive and behavioral therapy

Question 24

What is Body Dysmorphic Disorder?

Answer 24

• “Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders”
• Obsessed with real or imagined flaws
• Obsessions cause distress and impairs functioning

Question 25

Describe some examples of cultural differences in sources of worry

Answer 25

- Caribbean Latin Americans, Puerto Ricans - "Ataque de Nervios" often results from family-related circumstances - Yoruba culture of Nigeria - Primary causes of anxiety: pressure to maintain large families, being cursed or hexed in dreams, and bodily complains - China and Southeast Asian countries - Concerns about male potency and the penis retracting into the body

Question 26

Why is exposure therapy important in the treatment of anxiety disorders?

Answer 26

Repeated exposure builds resistance against the fear(s), reducing fear and decreasing avoidance

Question 27

What are the two neurological pathways involved in anxiety disorders?

Answer 27

Neuroendocrine and Neurotransmitter Pathways

Question 28

How might treatments differ based on which neurological pathway is activated in anxiety disorders?

Answer 28

Medications will vary based on which receptors they act on and which pathways they are working to help

Question 29

Why was OCD controversial in its placement with anxiety disorders?

Answer 29

- Some argue that it belongs in its own category due to it being characterized as involving intrusive thoughts and obsessions along with compulsive behaviors meant to relieve those thoughts. - The other anxiety disorders do not involve these thought distortions and behavioral inclinations

Question 30

Where is OCD listed in the DSM-V?

Answer 30

"Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders"