23 - Anxiety Disorders Flashcards
How can psychological abnormality be defined? ‘4 d’s’
- Deviant (different, unusual, extreme, bizarre)
- Distressing (unpleasant, upsetting to individual)
- Dysfunctional (inability to conduct daily activities)
- Dangerous (to oneself or others)
What did Szasz imply about ‘the myth of mental illness’?
Only physical diseases exist so a disease of the mind is impossible
ICD-10 classification of mental disorders?
Organic disorders
Psychoactive substance use
Psychotic disorders
Mood, stress, & anxiety disorders
Physiological disorders
Development disorders
Disorders of childhood
What is the gender gap in mental illness?
Higher rates in women, with young women becoming a key high risk group.
The gender gap in mental illness had become most pronounced in young
people, and there is evidence that this gap has widened in recent years.
What did the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey in 2016 find regarding the prevalence of mental disorders in England?
Around one person in six (17%) in England had a common mental disorder (one in five women, one in eight men)
Who did the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey in 2016 find that mental disorders were more common among?
- Women
- Single, divorced, living alone
- In receipt of state benefits
- Comorbidity with chronic physical illness (e.g. cancer, asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, high blood pressure)
What did the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey in 2016 find were the most prevalent mental health disorders?
Generalised anxiety disorder (5.9%), depressive episode (3.3%), mixed anxiety and depressive disorder (7.8%)
What % of GP consultations are regarding mental health disorders?
30%
What are anxiety disorders?
Panic disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Acute stress disorder
Generalised anxiety disorder
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
Phobias
How can anxiety disorders be managed with a biological focus?
- Neurotransmitters, brain imaging
- Pharmacological management (benzodiazepines, SSRIs)
How can anxiety disorders be managed with a psychological focus?
- Learning mechanisms (onset AND maintenance)
- Psychological interventions (education, relaxation, CBT)
What is the cycle of panic disorder?
- Physical sensation, thought, or image perceived as threatening
- Anxiety
- Physical sensations (rapid heart beat etc)
- Catastrophic interpretation of physical symptoms
- Amplification of physical sensations and anxiety
- Hypervigilance
How can panic disorders be managed?
- Selective attention to bodily events
- In-situation safety behaviours
- Avoidance
What is the difference between PTSD and acute stress disorder?
Acute stress disorder refers to the initial traumatic symptoms that arise immediately after a traumatic event. PTSD refers to the long-term aftermath of trauma.
What is generalised anxiety disorder?
Excessive and uncontrollable worry about future events & outcomes
How many people suffer with generalised anxiety disorder?
1-5% of population in last 12 months
What does generalised anxiety disorder tend to co-occur with?
Depression, many other medical conditions
What is intolerance of uncertainty?
Results from a set of negative beliefs about uncertainty and its implications and involves the tendency to react negatively to uncertain situations and events
- Overestimate risk
- -ve consequences
What are signs of intolerance of uncertainty?
- Seeking excessive reassurance
- List-making
- Double checking
- Refusing to delegate tasks to others
- Procrastination/avoidance
- Distraction
This provides temporary anxiety reduction.
What is OCD?
- Obsessions (intrusion of thoughts, images, impulses that produce anxiety e.g. contamination)
- Compulsions (behaviours or rituals)
What is a phobia?
Irrational fear of specific objects or situations
Describe classical conditioned acquisition of needle phobia
Signal (CS): sight of needle
Trauma (UCS): injection/pain
Reaction (UCR): fright/withdrawal
Result (CR): needle phobia
What is negatively reinforced maintenance?
Escape of avoidance of aversive event leads to reduction in fear
What is agoraphobia?
Fear of crowded/enclosed places and open spaces (fear of panic attack & resultant embarrassment)
What is social phobia (social anxiety disorder)?
Extreme and persistent fear of embarrassment and humiliation leading to avoidance of social and public activities
When does social phobia typically onset?
Teens, affects more men
How prevalent is social phobia?
7-12% lifetime prevalence in community samples, higher in primary care samples
What are common simple phobias?
Animals (spiders, dogs, birds)
Natural phenomena (height, darkness, thunder)
Injury, illness (hospital, dentist, needle)
Blood
How prevalent are simple phobias?
20-30% mild fears, 1% severe phobia
What are other ways of acquiring phobias?
- Parents
- Peers
- Media
What is systematic desensitisation?
A form of behaviour therapy with graded exposure to feared object/situation (imagined or actual exposure)
