Anxiety and related disorders Flashcards
What is a panic attack?
It is a discrete episode of intense fear or discomfort which starts abruptly and reaches a maximum within a few minutes, with at least 4 specific anxiety symptoms.
What are the autonomic arousal symptoms of anxiety?
Palpitations, pounding heart, increased HR, sweating, trembling, shaking, dry mouth.
What are the symptoms of anxiety involving mental state?
Feeling dizzy, unsteady & light-headed. Also derealisation, the feeling that objects are not feel and depersonalisation which is the feeling that people are not real. Also fear of losing control, going out, passing out, dying. (generally hot flushes, cold sweats and tingling and numbness)
What are the two sub-categories of anxiety disorder?
Continuous generalised anxiety and episodic anxiety.
What are the three types of episodic anxiety?
Panic disorder, phobias, agoraphobia & panic
What is generalised anxiety and how long must it be present for?
Prominent tension, worry and feelings of apprehension about every day life, described as free floating. Themes include housing, money, relatives and health. Must be a period of at least 6 months. Persistent free floating anxiety not related to external stimulus.
What is episodic anxiety?
Recurrent (4X in 4 weeks) attacks of severe anxiety lasting 1-10 minutes with a sudden onset
If a patient has depression as well as panic disorders, how should the diagnosis be made?
Panic attacks secondary to depression
What is the difference between anxiety and a phobic disorder?
Phobic disorder have particular stimuli, but the fear is out’ve proportion, it cannot be reasoned or explained. They have anticipatory anxiety and exert avoidance behaviour.
What is agoraphobia?
Episodic phobic anxiety disorder
Clusters of phobias embracing fears of leaving home, entering shops, crowds and public places, travelling alone in trains, buses or planes. Panic disorder is a frequent feature of both past and present episodes. Depressive and obsessional symptoms and phobias are also commonly present as subsidiary features Avoidance of the phobic situation is often prominent. Some agoraphobics have little anxiety because they can avoid their phobic situations.
What is social phobic anxiety disorder?
This is when there is fear of scrutiny by other people leading to avoidance of social situations.
What are more pervasive social phobias associated with?
Low self-esteem and fear of criticism
How might a social phobic anxiety order present?
Complaint of blushing, hand tremor, nausea or urgency of micturition. The patient is sometimes convinced that secondary manifestation of their anxiety is the primary problem.
What is specific phobia anxiety?
This is when the phobia is restricted to highly specific situations, blood, dentist etc.
What is the treatment for phobias?
Psycho-education of exposure (systematic desensitisation).
