Anxiety Flashcards
1
Q
Similarities between anxiety and fear
A
Similarities:
- anticipation of danger or discomfort
- tense apprehension (feel something unpleasant will happen)
- elevated arousal
- negative affect
- future orientation (what if?)
- bodily sensation
2
Q
Differences between anxiety and fear
A
Fear:
- specific threat
- episodic usually
- identifiable threat
- emergency bodily sensation
- rational (may seem evolutionary e.g. spider to avoid poisoning)
Anxiety:
- threat source may be elusive
- prolonged
- pervasive uneasiness
- objectless
- puzzling quality - no rational reason why
3
Q
Clark and Beck (2010)
A
- fear is primitive. There is an automatic, neurophysiological state, cognitive, conscious imminent, threat of danger/ safety
- anxiety is a complex cognitive physiological and behavioural response, anticipated events are very aversive, unpredictable and uncontrollable
4
Q
DSM-5
A
Children:
- separation anxiety e.g. bed wetting, tantrums, tummy aches
- selective mutism - normally situational specific, anxious to talk to strangers
Adults:
- specific phobias e.g. lifts (normally avoided or can tolerate)
- social phobia - fear of being negatively evaluated by others e.g. boring
- generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) - worrying excessively throughout the day
- panic disorder - physical panic attacks, chest pain
- agoraphobia - extreme or irrational fear of open-public places
- obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) - intrusive or unwanted thoughts. Harm will happen is do not perform the compulsion. Feel high responsibility
- trauma and stress related disorders - PTSD, perceive them/others to be in danger. Can lead to low mood/ suicide
Comorbidity - happen at the same time e.g. one third experience more than one anxiety disorder such as a strong association between eating disorders and OCD
5
Q
Biological features
A
- skin - vasodilation, sweat, blush
- stomach - digestion slows down, nausea, digestion
- lungs - deep breathing, increased O2, chest pain
- eyes - pupils dilate, eyes widen, blurred vision
- muscles - tense, weakness, trembling, blood flows
- heart - beats faster, high blood pressure
- saliva - rest and digest, decrease digestion, dry mouth
6
Q
Cuthbert (2003)
A
- elevated heart rate for panic attacks and specific phobias, but not social phobias or PTSD
7
Q
McLean et al (2011)
A
- more women than men
- more anxiety than depression
more lifetime symptoms than 12 months
8
Q
Kessler (2005)
A
- specific phobia (12.5%)
- OCD (1.6%), but OCD is equal in males and females
- most people do not grow out of it
- negative impact on social and educational disorders
- in children, risk of school refusal or permeative drop out
9
Q
Afifi et al. (2010)
A
- twin studies (25-60%) inheritability estimates for phobias, panic disorders, and vulnerability to PTSD
- no evidence of a genetic reason
- hard to replicate genetic studies
- difficult to separate genetics from the environment
10
Q
Harari et al. (2002)
A
- short allele variant of 5HTTLPR polymorphism
- regulates expression of serotonin transporter genes
- increased amygdala activation in response to fearful faces, but also more vulnerable to get depression and BPD
- lack of serotonin
11
Q
Neurobiology
A
- amygdala involved in emotional modulation of memory. Damage to amygdala can cause a los of memory
- frontal cortex is used for control
- the limbic system can inhibit the frontal cortex, so there may be a loss of control
- GABA and serotonin can facilitate the link between the limbic system and the frontal cortex, often used in anti anxiety medication
- e.g. beta blockers are effective for those with anxiety tremors: day time sedation, impairment with motor responses, dependence, misuse, can hinder/help psychological interventions
12
Q
Kotov et al. (2010)
A
- meta-analysis, anxiety disorders may be associated with neuroticism, low conscientiousness (not a specific phobia), and introversion. More likely to be avoidant in certain situations
13
Q
Turner and Lloyd (2004)
A
- diathesis-stress model - life events can activate a vulnerability
- retrospective study, large sample size, from age of 6, increased risk of depressive or anxious episodes
- learn behaviour vicariously - often exacerbated by a particular life event
14
Q
Murray et al. (2008)
A
- modelling, maternal anxiety expressed at 10 months, and infant avoidance at 14 months
- talk about threats , talk about world in an anxious manner
- information transfer - anxious parents promotes avoid ant solutions to threat
- over-control - cannot cope with a task, as parent is doing for them
- 7-13yr old = more anxiety when parents are controlling
- parental influence helps moderate threatening behaviour in certain situations
15
Q
Phobias
A
- intense fear when faced with a specific stimulus - out of proportion to danger
- avoidance or can be tolerated
- social phobias (3.2%), animals (1.1%)
