2: Anxiety Disorders Flashcards

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1
Q

Why is anxiety thought to be normal?

A
  • Xp by most people

- bodily changes are our natural FoF response

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2
Q

What are the 6 different subtypes of anxiety disorder?

A
  1. Phobias
  2. Panic disorder
  3. GAD
  4. OCD
  5. PTSD
  6. Acute stress disorder
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3
Q

What are the 2 separate categories of phobia?

A
  1. Specific phobias

2. Social phobias (AKA Social anxiety disorder)

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4
Q

What is a specific phobia?

A
  • where there is a persistent + excessive fear of a particular object/ situation
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5
Q

What is thought to be the lifetime prevalence of specific phobias?

A

12-20%

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6
Q

What are the 5 separate subtypes of specific phobias?

A
  1. Animals
  2. Natural environment
  3. Blood-injection-injuries
  4. Situational (enclosed space, flying)
  5. Other types
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7
Q

What is the fear of blood called?

A

Haematophobia

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8
Q

What is the fear of germs called?

A

Microphobia

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9
Q

What is the fear of Heights called?

A

Acrophobia

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10
Q

What is the fear of Snakes called?

A

Ophidiophobia

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11
Q

What is the fear of Water called?

A

Aquaphobia

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12
Q

Who seem to be at a greater risk of specific phobias, men or women?/

A

WOMEN
- animal + situational phobia
- no difference in blood-injection-injuries
Fredrikson et al (1996)

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13
Q

What fears are thought to be the most prevalent?

A

varies between height, dental + spider

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14
Q

What is a social phobia (social anxiety disorder)?

A

individual has an intense + persistent fear of being under scrutiny or embarrassing themselves in social situations
- negative opinions of themselves + possible outcome of social situations

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15
Q

What are the most common social phobias (APA, 2011)

A
  1. Fear related to meeting new people
  2. Speaking in public
  3. Using public bathrooms
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16
Q

What is the lifetime revalance of social phobias?

A

12.1%

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17
Q

What are safety behaviours?

A

anxiety relieving strategies employed by those suffering from social phobias

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18
Q

Give examples of social phobias and safety behaviours

A
  1. Taking to strangers - babbling - speak quickly, rehearse sentences
  2. Drinking in front of others - losing control - use both hands + grip tightly
  3. Eating in public - vomiting - eat small amounts
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19
Q

What are the different way phobias are thought to be aquired?

A
  1. Biological

- Preparedness theory

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20
Q

What is the preparedness theory?

A
  • suggests humans have an innate tendency to be afraid of certain objects/ situations that could potentially harm us
  • avoiding = better chance of survival
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21
Q

What is a problem with the preparedness theory?

A

Cannot explain phobias associated with modern living

- fear of elevators/ costumed characters

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22
Q

What other biological theories are there other than preparedness theory?

A
  • relating to heightened sensitivity of brain regions involved in fear network
    = Amygdala
    = Medinal prefrontal cortex
    = Thalamus
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23
Q

What evidence is there to suggest that sharing of negative information can result in phobias/ increased fear (Rachman, 2002)?

A

children given more negative comments about animals = more likely to fear than neutral/ positive info

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24
Q

Why is Agoraphobia related to panic disorder?

A

= fear or market place

  • but actually fear of having a panic attack in these situations
  • more frequent in women
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25
Q

What are the different treatments available for phobias?

A
  1. Bio-based
    - anitaxniety
    - antidepressants
  2. Psychological based
    - Emotion
    - Cognition
    - Behavioural
    - CBT
    - Psychoeducation
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26
Q

What are the 2 main types of medication used to treat phobias by altering neurotransmitter systems?

A
  1. Antianxiety - Anxiolytics
    - benzodiazepines
  2. Antidepressants
    - SSRI
    - good for social phobias
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27
Q

What are the 2 ways in which the physiological reaction produced by fears are treated with (Emotions)?

A
  1. Relaxation technique
    - muscle tension
    - reduced reactivity to phobic stimuli
  2. Breathing techniques
    - help control for hyperventilation
    - reduce phobic reactivity
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28
Q

In cognitive therapy of phobia, what aspects of cognition is being treated?

A
  1. Their attentional focus on the feared stilmuli
    - they are quick to notice anything that looks vaugly simmilar
  2. Dispropotyional harm they think they will xp
29
Q

What are the different therapeutic techiniqes used to alter maladaptive behavioural pattern seen in phobia?

A
  1. Exposure therapy
    - Systematic-desensitisation
    * * relaxation technique
    - Flooding + implosion therapy
    * * wait till initial body fear response has died down
30
Q

What is psychoeducation?

A
  • provision of knowledge + training about a particular disorder
  • to facilitate better understanding + recovery
31
Q

What is a panic attack?

A

individual becomes extremely anxious,

  • xp physical discomfort + heart palpitations, trembling, shortness of breath
  • may feel they are dying
32
Q

What is panic disorder?

A

panic attacks are recurrent + unexpected
- continual fear of having additional attacks = changes in behaviour associated with fear
eg avoiding situation ==> agoraphobia

33
Q

What is the lifetime prevalence of panic disorders?

A

4.7%

twice as prevalent in women + Caucasians

34
Q

What are the different biological exp for the cause of panic disorder?

A
  1. Genetic predispositoin
    - however hard to find specific gene = genetic + enviornmental interaction shift
  2. Brain structure abnormalities
    - brain region associated with fear response hypersensitive (hippocampus, amygdala + thalamus)
  3. disturbance of neurotransmitter serotonin
    - tho unsure if deficit or excessive = disorder
35
Q

What are the different psychological exp for the cause of panic disorder?

A
  1. Anxiety Sensitivity (AS)
    - hypersensitive to bodily sensations
    - attribute changes to imminent harm eg heart attack (Schmidt et al, 2010)
    - can predict future development of panic disorder + other anxiety disorders
  2. Catastrophic thinking
    - belief worst will always happen
    - socially embarrass when they detect changes in bodily sensations
    = more changes in body = vicious cycle
    = CC
36
Q

What is introspective conditioning?

A

type of CC where changes in bodily state result in feelings of fear + panic causing someone to think they are having a heart attack
- changes become conditioned stimulus = fear + panic (conditioned response)

37
Q

What is the most successful + commonly used psychological treatment for panic disorder (Roy-Byrne et al, 2006)?

A
CBT 
- psychoeducation
- cognitive reconstruction
- exposure to changes in bodily sensations 
- exposure to feared stimulus 
= minimise anxiety + fear
38
Q

What is thought to be the most successful treatment for panic disorders?

A

CBT + medication

  • antidepressants = SSRI
  • anti-anxiety = Benzodiazepines
39
Q

What is the heritable estimate of panic disorder (Hettema, Neale + Kendler, 2001)?

A

43%

40
Q

What are the psychological explanation for the acquisition of GAD?

A
  1. Negative schema
    - negative interpretation of everything
    - catastrophe
    - selective abstraction - only looking at the negative points
  2. metacognitive model
    - worrying about worrying
  3. focus Intolerance of uncertainty
41
Q

What evidence is there supporting that GAD indidivuals have a negatie schema?

A

Rinck (2010)

- more likely to associate neutral words w/ negative attributes = underlying negative cognitive schema

42
Q

What is the metacognitive models of GAD ( Wells, 2005/9)?

A

exp for the origin of GAD

  • having negative beliefs about the controllability + consequences of worrying
  • concerned about worrying being out of control + that serious health consequences might result from excessive worry
43
Q

How does Dugas + Robichaud explain the cause of GAD being due to focus of uncertainty?

A

need 100% certainty to avoid worry + anxiety

- they know plane won’t crash but need to be 100% sure

44
Q

Antidepressants + anti-anxiety are used to treat GAD. How have they been recommmended to use and why?

A

Antidepressant = for LT as anti-anxiety has high dependency risk
- initially should use both

45
Q

What are the 2 psychological therapies which have been found to be effective in the treatment of GAD?

A
  1. CBT
    - found to be as effective as medication
  2. Applied relaxation
46
Q

What is applied relaxation?

A
  • individual trained to identify physiological changes they xp whilst worrying/
  • apply relevant relaxation technique (breathing etc)
47
Q

How is OCD defined?

A

presence of obsessions + compulsions

Obsession - reoccurring + persistent thoughts, images + impulses can = anxiety

Compulsions - behaviours which they feel the need to do in order to relieve distress caused by obsession

48
Q

What is the lifetime prevalence of OCD?

A
  1. 6%

- but obsession + compulsion exist separately in 13% of gen population

49
Q

Examples of O + C?

A
O = contamination of germs from touching something
C = wearing gloves/ washing hands
O = need for order/ symmetry
C = not allowing people in room/ touch belongings
50
Q

What is the genetic heritability of OCD?

A

50% = strong

- but still lacking solid evidence for single/ genes

51
Q

What neuroanatomical areas have been strongly associated with OCD?

A
  1. Orbitofrontal cortex
  2. Caudate nucleus
  3. Thalamus
    all have increased metabolism in disorder may = excessive worrying/ repetitive behaviours (Markarian et al, 2010)
52
Q

What evidence is there to support the role of abnormal levels of neurotransmitters have a role in the development of OCD?

A

Medication increasing serotonin in brain (SSRI) = successful treatments (Simpsons, 2010)
- 60/70% respond to treatment

53
Q

What are the key cognitive features of OCD thought to have an important role in the aquisition + maintainance of OCD?

A
  1. Over-importance of thoughts
    - believe that thinking but lead to action
    - thinking of being violent mean they will become violent
  2. Inflated responsibility
    - believe they are responsible for preventing from negative events from happening
  3. Intolerance of uncertainty
    - need for certainty
54
Q

The repeated pairing of what 2 things is thought to = OCD?

A

obsessive thought + anxiety-relieving compulsion

CC

55
Q

What is the downside of using medication for the treatment of OCD?

A
  1. Can take 1 month to start taking effect

2. Sometimes need in high dosage = high risk of side effects (Fenske + Schwenk, 2009)

56
Q

What psychological treatments are used for OCD?

A

CBT
Psychoeducation
- thought to be more effective than medication as it is more longer lasting, lower relapse rate

57
Q

What are the symptoms of PTSD?

A
  1. Reliving the traumatic event via intrusive memories = psychological distress + physiological reaction
  2. effort to avoid triggers
  3. increased physical arousal = difficult to sleep + outburst of anger
58
Q

Although genes involved in PTSD are not clear, what evidence is there suggesting a genetic link?

A

Children of holocaust survivors w/ PTSD more likely to develop PTSD vs children of holocaust survivors without PTSD (Yehuda, Halligan + Bierer, 2001)

59
Q

What part of the brain is thought to have heightened sensitivity in PTSD?

A

Amygdala - key brain region involved in fear response

- may have stemmed from chronic stress (Ressler, 2010)

60
Q

The pairing of what 2 factors is suggested to = PTSD?

A

Traumatic event = fear + any cues

61
Q

What aspect of cognition is thought to be factors contributing to the acquisition of PTSD (Ehlers + Clark, 2000)?

A
  1. negative pattern on thinking
    - threat continually perceived
    - self-blame for traumatic events
  2. Trauma memory not being integrated to autobiographical memory
    - since they xp lots of confusion + detachment during traumatic event
    = unintentional/ expected triggering of trauma memory
62
Q

What is the primary bio treatment for PTSD?

A

Antidepressant medication = SSRI

  • found to be effective in 59% patients (Stein, Ipser + Seedat, 2009)
  • increase serotonin which may diminish activity of the amygdala
63
Q

What are the primary psychological treatment for PTSD?

A
  1. Trauma-focused CBT
    - memory + meaning of event
  2. Eye movement desensitisation + reprocessing
  3. Focus on coping w/ symptoms of disorder
64
Q

How is TBCBT carried out?

A
  1. Confront stimulus - imagine/ or reality
  2. Asked to describe/ relive event
    = habituated xp = no fear response
65
Q

What sis Foa et al (1999) when female victims of sexual assaults were asked to imagine + describe the assault taking place on a daily basis?

A

effective at reducing PTSD symptoms

66
Q

What is eye movement desensitisation + reprocessing?

A
  1. Focus on memory, emotions + thoughts associated w/ traumatic event
  2. Move hand in front of face to induce eye movement
    = induce a neurobiological state which facilitates integration of traumatic memories into LT memory = reducing negative emotions associated w/ memory
67
Q

What is the difference between acute stress + PTSD?

A
  1. duration of episodes shorter
  2. Feelings of detachment from reality more common
    - 80% of acute stress go on to have PTSD (Murray, Ehlers + Mayou, 2002)
68
Q

What % of soldiers who returned from serving at Afghanistan met the criteria for PTSD?

A

20%

Ramchand et al, 2010