Abnormal Psych Review Flashcards
Def: A phobia (textbook def)
a persistent and disproportionate fear of some specific object or situation that presents little or no actual danger and yet leads to a great deal of avoidance of these feared situations.
Criteria for Specific Phobias
Strong and persistent fear recognized as excessive or unreasonable
Triggered by specific object or situation.
Avoidance of trigger cardinal characteristic.
When ppl with specific phobias encounter a phobic stimulus, they often show an immediate fear response that often resembles a panic attack except for the existence of a clear external trigger.
If ppl who suffer from a phobia attempt to approach their fear situation, they are overcome with fear and/or anxiety, which might vary from mild feelings of apprehension and distress (usually while still at some distance) to full-fledged activation of flight or fight response.
It doesn’t matter how this phobia begins, phobic behavior tends to be reinforced bc every time the person with a phobia avoids a feared situation or objects, their anxiety decreases.
Plus, the secondary benefits derived from being disabled, like increased attention, sympathy, and some control over the behavior of others, might also sometimes reinforce a phobia
Def: Blood-Injection Injury Phobia
a phobia where ppl who have it typically experience at least as much (if not more) disgust as fear.
They also show a unique physiological response when confronted with the sight of blood or injuries.
Rather than showing the simple increase in heart rate and blood pressure seen in most ppl with phobias, these ppl show an initial acceleration, followed by a dramatic drop in both heart rate and blood pressure.
This is very frequently accompanied by nausea, dizziness, or fainting, which don’t occur with other specific phobias.
This is heritable.
They might be at more risk of another attack when they faint.
It’s typical to only show the physiological response patterns with the flight-or-fight response
Def: Social anxiety Disorder
characterized by disabling fears of one or more specific social situations (public speaking, urinating in a public bathroom, or eating or writing in public).
In these situations, a person fears that they might be exposed to the scrutiny or potential negative evaluation of others or that they might act in an embarrassing or humiliating way.
Ppl with social phobias either avoid these situations or endure them with great distress
Intense fear of public speaking is the single most common type of social phobia.
The DSM-IV also identifies 2 subtypes of social phobia, of which centers on performance situations like public speaking and one of which is more eternal includes nonperformance situations (eating in public).
Prevalence rate for a Social Phobia or Social Anxiety Disorder
Lifetime prevalence rate of about 12% for being diagnosed with social phobia.
More common in women than men
Twice as prevalent in women than men.
Women are 60% more likely to be diagnosed.
Typically begin during adolescence or early adulthood.
Nearly ⅔ of the ppl who have social phobia are more likely to suffer from 1/+ additional anxiety disorders.
About 50% also suffer from a depressive disorder.
⅓ abuse alcohol to reduce their anxiety and help them face the horrors of the outside world.
Plus, bc of their distress and avoidance of social situation, ppl with social phobia, on average, have hower employment rates and lower socioeconomic status, an approximately ⅓ how severe impairment in one or more domains in their life.
The disorder is very persistent, with one study finding that only 37% recovered spontaneously over a 12yr period.
Once panic disorder develops, it tends to have a ________ and disabling course, tho the intensity of symptoms often ________ over time.
chronic, worsens
_____________ occurs more in women than in men, and the percentage of women increases the extent of agoraphobic avoidance increases.
Agoraphobia
Prevalence rate for Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Each year 3% of population experiences GAD (General Anxiety Disorder)
Lifetime prevalence is 5.7%
There has to be a 12-year follow up study of ppl diagnosed with GAD found that 42% had not remitted 13yrs later and of those who had remitted, nearly ½ had recurrence.
But, after age 50 the disorder seems to disappear, however; it seems to be replaced by a somatic symptom disorder and characterized by physical symptoms and health concerns.
Twice as common in women than men
GAD is common, but ppl with it manage to function in spite of their high levels of concern and low perceived well-being.
They are less likely to receive psych treatment at a clinic than ppl with panic disorder or MDD
But, ppl with GAD do typically show up in physicians’ offices with med complaints and are known to be overuse of healthcare resources.
Age onset is often hard to determine bc 60-80% of ppl with GAD remember having been anxious nearly all their lives, and many others report a slow and insidious onset.
More research has found that most reports of GAD came from older adults.
Psychological causes for Anxiety Disorders
Psychoanalytic viewpoint - phobias defends against anxiety from our impulses of our id.
Learned behavior
Vicarious conditioning- protective factors. uncontrollable stress
Evolution - phobia brought by our ancestors was passed down gen by gen
Def: Generalized Anxiety Disorder
The theory about ppl with many stressors in one’s life would eventually cause them to have GAD is also bc one might be more prone to developing GAD if they view all of the stressors in their life as unpredictable and uncontrollable.
This is bc we don’t get stressed out about things that are predictable and controllable.
But, an upside of this is that the stressors aren’t that bad; if the stressor was horrible and traumatic, one would be diagnosed with PTSD and not with GAD.
Ppl with GAD are more likely to have a traumatic childhood than those with panic disorder.
Intolerance for uncertainty also can be seen in those who have OCD.
Several of the benefits that ppl with GAD most commonly think derive from worrying are: Superstitious avoidance of catastrophy, Avoidance of deeper emotional topics. and coping along with preparation
Biological Causal Factors for Anxiety Disorders
Passed down by genetics
30% of the variance in liability due to generic factors.
Results from several studies of twins have also shown that there is a modest genetic contribution to social phobias; estimates are that about 30% of the variety in liability to social phobia is due to genetic factors.
Biological factors for Panic Disorders & Agoraphobia
According to family and twin studies, panic disorder has a moderate heritable component.
In a large twin study, Kendler and colleagues estimated that 33-43% of the variance in liability to panic disorder was due to genetic factors.
Recently, several studies have begun to identify which specific genetic polymorphisms are responsible for this moderate heritability, either alone or in interaction with certain types of stressful life events.
Behavioral inhibition
Behaviorally inhibited toddlers - excessively timid, shy, easily distressed
Def: panic disorders
Panic affects the hippocampus, cortical centers, basal ganglia, amygdala, most involved with the Limbic System: specifically low levels of GABA, serotonin, and norepinephrine.
The evidence of both GAD and MDD have been _________ predisposed.
Ppl who have a genetic risk for both of these things lie within the specific _____________ experiences.
Both GAD and MDD have also been tied with the personality trait _______________.
genetically, environmental, neuroticism
Treatment for Anxiety disorders
Exposure therapy
participant modeling
CBT + Exposure therapy + meds
d-cycloserine - medication
Cognitive reconstruction techni-
CBT is great for GAD and specific phobias
GAD - Xanax or Klonopin, SSRIs, Anxiolytic drugs,
