Module 4: Anxiety and Related Disorders

Question 1

Define ‘anxiety’

Answer 1

An affective state in which an individual feels threatened by the potential occurrence of a future negative state

Question 2

How does anxiety differ from fear?

Answer 2

Fear is present oriented whereas anxiety is future orientated

Question 3

What are the 3 distinct components of emotion?

Answer 3

1. Physiological
2. Cognitive
3. Behavioural

Question 4

Who was one of the earliest theorists to focus on anxiety?

Answer 4

Freud

Question 5

In the DSM 5, anxiety-related disorders are categorized into 3 distinct groups:

Answer 5

1. Anxiety Disorders
2. Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders
3. Trauma and stressor related disorders

Question 6

Panic disorder is characterized by…

Answer 6

Recurrent and unexpected panic attacks that develop suddenly and reach a peak within minutes

Question 7

In panic disorder, at least one of the panic attacks must be followed by…

Answer 7

persistent concerns (lasting at least one month)

Question 8

Agoraphobia

Answer 8

Anxiety about being in places or situations in which an individual might find it difficult to escape or in which they would not have help if a panic attack occurred

Question 9

According to cognitive theories, agoraphobia is thought to develop from…

Answer 9

catastrophic misinterpretations of bodily sensations

Question 10

According to behavioural theories, specific phobia disorder is thought to develop due to…

Answer 10

an inability to habituate to certain stimuli because of lack of exposure

Question 11

Cognitive features associated with social anxiety disorder appear to involve…

Answer 11

abnormal social information processing and negative beliefs about self and others

Question 12

How long does pathological worry and other symptoms have to be present for a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder?

Answer 12

At least 6 months

Question 13

Cognitive behavioural features associated with generalized anxiety disorder…

Answer 13

worry as an avoidance strategy and intolerance for uncertainties (IU)

Question 14

Primary features of OCD

Answer 14

recurrent obsessions and compulsions that cause marked distress

Question 15

Body dysmorphic disorder is characterized by a…

Answer 15

preoccupation with perceived defects in one’s own physical appearance, often accompanied by repetitive behaviours in response to concerns

Question 16

OCD patients tend to fuse thoughts and behaviours together, what does this mean?

Answer 16

Patients believe that having a particular thought increases the probability that the thought will come true and/ or having a particular thought is the moral equivalent of a particular action

Question 17

Central feature of PTSD

Answer 17

The individual continues to re-experience intrusive, unwanted recollections of a past traumatic event

Question 18

What does the duration of disturbance have to be to receive a diagnosis of PTSD?

Answer 18

at least 1 month

Question 19

What does the two-factor behavioural theory state?

Answer 19

Fears develop through the process of classical conditioning and are maintained through operant conditioning (avoidance)
ex; think of the case of Little Albert