Anxiety and Related Disorders Flashcards
Describe the shape of the Yerkes-Dodson curve and explain what it tells us about anxiety.
When arousal reaches an optimal level, performance is also optimal. Further increases in arousal impair performance due to anxiety.
Name 4 physiological effects of stress.
- Increased cortisol - raised blood sugar, suppressed immune system.
- Direct sympathetic activation
- Pro-inflammatory - release of cytokines
- Reduced BDNF - small hippocampus, reduced neurogenesis
Name the main physical symptoms of anxiety.
Autonomic: palpitations, shaking, sweating, hot flushes, dry mouth and muscular tension
Chest and GI: hyperventilation, numbness, choking, chest/abdominal pain and nausea
Define generalised anxiety disorder (GAD).
- Excessive anxiety and worry, occurring more days than not, for 6 months.
- Worry that is difficult to control.
- Associated with 3 or more: restlessness, easily fatigued, difficulty concentrating, irritability, muscle tension, sleep disturbance.
The BMJ (2012) reports the prevalence of general anxiety disorder in men and women between the ages of 45 and 59 to be what?
Men - 4%
Women - 7%
Specific phobias are defined by what criteria?
- Excessive unreasonable fear in presence or anticipation of specific object or situation.
- Exposure provokes anxiety response - with or without panic attacks.
- Avoidance.
- Interferes with life.
Classical conditioning uses what technique?
Association - conditioning serves to bring about an association between two things.
E.g. conditioning a dog to associate food with tuning fork - if conditioning is succesful, tuning fork alone will provoke salivation.
What is operant conditioning?
A learning process where the strength of a behaviour is modified by reward or punishment.
Operant conditioning is employed as a technique to alter behaviour.
What is the estimated lifetime prevalence of simple phobias, and how does this differ in men and women?
Lifetime prevalence ~ 5%
Affects 4x more women than men
What is agoraphobia?
- Fear of the outside environment and belief that it is unsafe - e.g. leaving home, entering shops, crowds and public places.
- Fear of being alone at places where escape is difficult.
- Leads to avoidance and people may become housebound in severe cases.
What is a panic attack?
- Intense anxiety peaking within 10 minutes.
- Shortness of breath or choking.
- Palpitations or chest pain.
- Fear of dying or “going crazy”.
- Other symptoms - dizziness or faintness, derealisation or depersonalisation, hot flashes or chills, nausea, stomach distress, numbness or tingling, sweating, trembling…
Define panic disorder.
- Recurrent panic attacks.
- 2 per week for 1 month?
- Unpredictable - not restricted to particular situations or circumstances.
Name the lifetime prevalence of agoraphobia and panic disorder in men and women, and the mean age of onset.
Agoraphobia - 1.4%
Panic disorder - 2-4%
Women affected 2x more than men
Mean age of onset - 18-35
Define social anxiety disorder (SAD).
- Fear of scrutiny or criticism by others.
- Avoidance of social situations.
- May present with blushing, hand tremor, nausea, urgency of micturition.
- Low self-esteem.
- May progress to panic attacks.
