Anxiety Flashcards
How do anxiety and fear differ from one another?
Anxiety is a sense of worry, dread and indecision whereas fear is about a sense of panic for example fight or flight.
In the mouse experiment what effect did anti-anxiety drugs have on the mice?
The mice were more confident in condition A, where they were introduced to the smell of a cat - this was due to reducing risk assessment and cautious approach behaviours
In the mouse experiment what effect did anti-fear drugs have on the mice?
The mice were more confident in condition B, where they were introduced to an actual cat. This was due to reducing panic and avoidance behaviours, much to the detriment of the mouse
Name some common features of anxiety
Fixation on fear of next panic attack, frequent worry that interferes with daily life, withdrawal from social life, out of the blue panic attacks, recurring nightmares.
At what point does anxiety become a disorder?
When it is continuous and disabling, too severe, too frequent, too long lasting and too readily triggered
What percentage of people in the UK currently experience one of the six DSM-V forms of anxiety?
7-10%
Summarise the historical background of anxiety
Anxiety was originally called neuroses. Freud believed that a neurosis was caused by the inability of ego defence mechanisms to prevent/ reduce anxiety aroused by unconscious conflicts.
How does the DSM-V defines disorders?
Defines disorders by symptoms rather possible causes
What are some common symptoms of anxiety?
faster breathing, tense muscles, rapid heart rate and nausea
List some defence mechanisms
Compensation, denial, displacement, identification, introjection, projection , rationalisation, reaction formulation, regression , repression , ritual and undoing , sublimation
What is compensation?
Strengthen one to hide another
What is denial?
refusing to face a negative behaviour
what is displacement?
taking it out on someone else
What is identification ?
Attach to something positive
What is introjection ?
Conform feelings for approval
What is projection?
See your faults and foibles in others
What is rationalisation
excuse and justify mistakes
What is reaction formation
pretend you are different
What is regression ?
Act much younger to feel better
What is ritual and undoing?
Override negative with habit
What is sublimation?
Divert negative into acceptable
What is Generalised Anxiety Disorder?
Free floating anxiety or chronic and persistent anxiety. It most commonly appears in childhood. The majority of people with this disorder develop other disorders such as depression.
What are some symptoms of GADs?
Muscular tension, autonomic hyperactivity, vigilance and scanning
What is the sociocultural explanation for GADs?
Societal pressure make people feel like they cannot meet expectations/ standards of their own abilities are underrated
What is the humanism explanation for GADs?
Self imposed pressure make people feel like they cannot meet (their own) expectations / standards or underrate their own abilities
What is the psychoanalytical explanation for GADs?
Ego defence mechanisms have failed and better regulation of defences are needed
What is the behavioural explanation for GADs?
Patients become conditioned to fear more and more stimuli, as they associate everything with fear outcomes.
What are the biological explanations for GADs?
There is a genetic basis that increases sensitivity to anxiety which might readjusting using drugs.
What drugs are used to treat anxiety disorders?
benzodiazepines - they act on GABA systems (regulates fear and anxiety) Novel anxiolytics are more recently used - also work well to treat comorbid depression (anti-depressant)
What is the biological explanation for panic disorders?
Noradrenaline levels are high in these patients , possibly due to an overly sensitive amygdala and a dysfunctional hypothalamic-pituitary- adrenal axis system. Drugs that reduce noradrenaline levels helps systems (antidepressants or blood pressure medications)
What is the cognitive-biological explanation for panic disorders?
Patients initially react to an extreme bodily change with panic. However following this, they overreact to any further minor bodily changes and fear the worst. This causes hyperventilation and possibly a panic attack . if this cycle continues, then patients can regularly have panic attacks that are not set off by extreme bodily changes.
What are obsessions?
Persistent thoughts or wishes that many involve the past or future
What are some typical obsession themes?
Cross-culturally, dirt or contamination themes, violence and aggression, orderliness, religion and sexuality
What are compulsions?
Compelled to perform behaviours or mental acts. Compulsive rituals are detailed and elaborate
What are some common compulsions?
Cleaning, checking, symmetry, order, balance, touching , verbal utterances, counting and eating
How is anxiety treated?
Exercises, somatic exercises, psychotherapy and medication
How prevalent is anxiety in the UK?
7- 10% of UK population likely to suffer from anxiety as some point
What are humans driven by and what behaviours do we present to fulfil this? according to Freud
We are driven by tensions reduction and so have defence mechanisms
What are the characteristics of defence mechanisms?
- They can operate unconsciously
- They can distort , transform, or falsify reality on some way
According to Freud, how does the mind respond to anxiey?
Firstly problem solving efforts are increased and then defence mechanisms are triggered . These tactics which the ego develops to help deal with the id and the super ego.
What is agoraphobia?
Avoidance of public places
What are social phobias?
Fear of exposure to scrutiny
What are simple phobias ?
Persistent fear of objects or discrete events
What is the prevalence of OCD?
Up to 2%
What many OCD also involve?
Depression or alcohol abuse
Describe the development of PTSD
The stressor is an intensely traumatic event which is much more disturbing that most common human experiences . PTSD can occur within 3 months (acute). pr more than 6 months after event (delayed)
What are some symptoms of PTSD?
Tendency to re experience events flashbacks
Difficulty in concentration
Abuse of alcohol/ drugs
Performance and social deterioration
