Module 66: Anxiety Disorder Flashcards
(34 cards)
Anxiety Disorders
Psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that induce anxiety
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
An anxiety disorder in which a person is continually tense, apprehensive, and in a state of autonomic nervous system arousal
What are some markers of Generalized Anxiety Disorder?
Out-of-control, agitated feelings suggest generalized anxiety disorder, which is marked by the EXCESSIVE and UNCONTROLLABLE worry that persists for 6 MONTHS OR MORE
- 2/3 woman
- often jittery ; agitated
- sleep-deprived
Social Anxiety Disorder
Intense fear and avoidance of social situations (formerly called social phobia)
What’re some of the criteria for social anxiety disorder?
- extremely anxious in social settings where others might judge them (parties, class presentation, eating in public)
- may avoid going out to avoid anxious thoughts and feelings + physical symptoms (sweating & trembling)
What are some characteristics of generalized anxiety disorder?
The person usually cannot identify, and therefore relieve or avoid, the tension’s cause.
- free-floating
- not linked to a specific stressor or threat)
- could lead to physical problems (high blood pressure, sleep disturbances,etc.)
Panic Disorder
An anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable, minutes-long episodes of intense dread - panic attacks- in which a person may experience terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations; often followed by worrying over a possible next attack
What do people commonly confuse panic attacks feel like?
Heart Attack
Agoraphobia
Fear or avoidance of public situations from which escape might be difficult
How can panic attacks lead to agoraphobia?
After several panic attacks, people may avoid situations where panic might strike. If their fear is intense enough, people may develop agoraphobia
Phobia
An anxiety disorder marked by a persistent irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object, activity, or situation
What are some examples of specific phobias?
- animals
- insects
- heights
- blood
- close spaces
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
A disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions), actions (compulsions), or both
What are obsessive thoughts?
Unwanted and so repetitive it may seem they will never go away
What are compulsive behaviors?
Responses to obsessive thoughts
When does ritual and fussy behavior cross the line of normal to disordered?
Rituals and fussy behaviors cross the fine line between normality and disorder when they persistently interfere with everyday living and cause distress
What is the difference between normal behavior and one suggesting OCD?
normal: Checking that you locked the door
Sign of disorder: Checking 10 times that you locked the door
Normal: Washing your hands thoroughly
Sign of disorder: Washing your hands so often that your skin becomes raw
What other disorders are classified as OCD-related disorders in DSM-5?
- hoarding disorder (cluttering one’s space w/ acquired possessions on can’t let go)
- body dysmorphic disorder (preoccupation w/ perceived body defects)
- trichotillomania (hair-pulling)
- excoriation disorder (excessive skin-picking)
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
A disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, hypervigilance, social withdrawal, jumpy, anxiety, numbness of feeling, and/or insomnia that lingers for Four Weeks or More after a traumatic experience.
What are some symptoms of PTSD?
Haunting memories & nightmares, laser-focused attention to possible threats, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, and trouble sleeping
Treatment for PTSD?
Participating in an intensive recovery program using deep breathing, massage, group & individual discussion techniques to treat their PTSD.
Why do some develop PTSD after a traumatic event?
- the amount of trauma-related emotional distress
- the higher the distress the greater the risk for PTSD symptoms.
- more sensitive emotion-processing limbic system that floods their bodies with stress hormones (explains why PTSD may coexist w/ other disorders)
- 2x higher for women than men
How does conditioning impact anxiety disorders, OCD, and PTSD?
- anxious or traumatized people learn to associate their anxiety with certain cues
- 58% of those w/ social anxiety disorder developed the disorder following a traumatic event
- anxiety or related disorders are more likely to develop when bad events happen unpredictably and uncontrollably
What is stimulus generalization?
The tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses.
*in operant conditioning, stimulus generalization occurs when responses learned in one situation occur in other, similar situations
