Anxiety Flashcards
Topics
1) Anxiety vs Fear
2) Panic Attack
3) 5 major groups of Anxiety disorder
4) Predispositions to development of Anxiety
5) Preparedness Hypothesis
6) Cognitive theories for development of Anxiety
7) GAD - Generalized Anxiety Disorder
8) Criteria diagnosis for GAD
9) Causes behind GAD
10) Treatment to GAD
11) Agoraphobia
12) Example of consequence of agoraphobia
13) Causes of Agoraphobia
14) Treatment to Agoraphobia
15) Specific phobias
16) Social phobias
17) OCD - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
18) OCD Treatment
Names and Years
1) APA (00) - Apo
2) Zimbardo & Gerrig (96) - Basterdo & Jerry
3) Skre et al (93) - Skrrt
4) Seligan (71) - Sell a gun
5) Wells (11) - Well
6) MacLeod et al (86) - McLoeonidis
7) Borkovec et al (04) - Burkabitch
8) Borkovec & Ruscio (01) - Burkabitch & Russo
9) Noyes et al (80) - Noyer
10) McNally (90) - Nally
11) Ballenger (91) - Baller
12) Steketee & Barlow (02) - Stick it in Carlow
13) Foa et al (05) - Faraoh
Anxiety vs Fear
- Anxiety: future-oriented state characterized by negative affect and bodily symptoms in which person focuses on possibility of UNCONTROLLABLE danger (APA, 2000)
- Fear: present-oriented state characterized by strong escapist tendencies and surge in sympathetic nervous system in response to CURRENT dangers
Panic Attack
- Panic attacks: alarm response of real danger, but without actual danger.
- May be unexpected, situationally bound (triggered by internal or external stimulus), or situationally predisposed (likely but unpredictable in a specific situation.
- Panic and anxiety combine to create different anxiety disorders
5 major groups of Anxiety disorder
- GAD - Generalized anxiety disorder
- Panic disorder
- Phobias
- PTSD
- OCD
Predispositions to development of Anxiety
- Both genetic and psychological vulnerabilities seems to contribute to development of anxiety disorders
- Skre et al (93) study on identical and fraternal twins, showed evidence of biological role
- Study showed predisposition to experience 4 of the 5 anxiety disorders
- Probability of monozygotic twins TWICE of dizygotic ones. However, phobias had no genetic evidence (probably because developed environmentally)
Preparedness Hypothesis
- Seligan (71) - Humans carry tendency to respond quickly to more common fears. E.g. fear of snakes & heights is more common than that of electricity.
- Our ancestors survived due to accordingly reacting to certain dangerous objects, thus passing on these traits Genetically.
- However, evolutionary psychology doesn’t explain why there are phobias that would have had no survival meaning (e.g. fear of airplanes or elevators)
Cognitive theories for development of Anxiety
•Patients tend to perceive their distress as sign of impending disaster.
•Their reaction set off vicious cycle in which person fears disaster –> lead to increase of anxiety levels –> worsen and confirm fear (Meta-worries, or worrying about the worry)
(Wells, 11)
•Also, anxious patients maintain their anxiety by employing cognitive biases that highlight threatening of stimuli. Results suggest that anxious patients may have a BIAS in ATTENDING or ENCODING that makes them more likely to notice a threatening stimulus
(MacLeod et al, 86)
GAD - Generalized Anxiety Disorder
•Anxiety focuses on minor everyday events and not one major or concern (in contrast to Phobias and OCD)
Criteria diagnosis for GAD
•It has to meet excessive and uncontrollable anxiety for at least 6 MONTHS that interfere with a person’s ability to function normally, and present symptoms such as restlessness, fatigue, irritability, or difficulties in concentrating.
Causes behind GAD
•Biological screenings show REDUCED AUTONOMIC RESPONSE to immediate stressors (e.g. lower heart rate), but elevated frontal lobe activity.
•Possibly, patients are focused on future threats, that attentional capacity for immediate threats are reduced
(Borkovec et al, 04)
Treatment to GAD
- Patient can be given BENZODIAZEPINS (e.g. Xanax) to increase levels of GABA (inhibitory neurotransmitter that slow neural activity, thus calming)
- Should be taken w/ caution, as they may have sever side effects and become highly addictive.
•Psychotherapeutical approaches can be used. Such as CBT, to DECONSTRUCT WORRYING PROCESS, confront the source of anxiety and instil adaptive responses
(Burkovec & Ruscio, 01)
•Drug treatment is no more effective in long term than pacebo. Combination of meds and psychotherapy result in 68% recovery
(Noyes et al, 80)
Panic disorder w/ or w/out Agoraphobia
- Panic Disorder: Anxiety is focused on next panic attack.
- Agoraphobia: Fear and avoidance of situations considered to be “unsafe”.
- According to DSM-5, defined as “an abrupt surge of intense fear or discomfort”.
- It can be very dangerous as physical symptoms include: accelerated heart rate, sweating, nausea…”; and emotional symptoms include depersonalization, sense of detachment from reality and fear of dying.
Example of consequence of panic disorder
High rate in suicide attempts (20%). It affects 1-2% of American population and it’s more common among women and those in their early 20s.
Causes of panic disorder
•Inherited poor regulation of norepinephrine which results in higher reactivity to stress, which can also be combined with LEARNED ASSOCIATIONS OF STRESS-RESPONSE to certain stimuli to worsen the reaction
(McNally, 90)
