Anxiety Disorders

Question 1

Anxiety

Answer 1

A state of physiological arousal associated with feelings of apprehension, worry or uneasiness that something is wrong, or something unpleasant is about to happen.

Question 2

Fear

Answer 2

A response to a real and present threat to safety or wellbeing.

Question 3

Stress

Answer 3

A state of physiological and psychological arousal produced by internal and external stressors that are perceived by the individual as challenging or exceeding their ability or resources to cope.

Question 4

Phobia

Answer 4

Excessive or unreasonable fear of a particular object or situation. The fear response is out of proportion to the actual danger posed by the object or situation.

Question 5

Anxiety Disorders

Answer 5

Characterised by persistent feelings of tension, distress, nervousness and apprehension about the future with negative effect. A person with anxiety disorder may feel uneasy or distressed a lot of the time, often with no apparent reason.

Question 6

Types of Anxiety Disorder

Answer 6

• Generalised anxiety disorder
• Panic disorder
• Specific phobia
• Social anxiety disorder
• Agoraphobia

Question 7

Generalised Anxiety Disorder

Answer 7

Persistent, excessive or unrealistic anxiety or worry.

Question 8

Panic Disorder

Answer 8

Recurring unexpected panic attacks.

Question 9

Specific Phobia

Answer 9

Excessive and unreasonable fear of a specific object or situation.

Question 10

Social Anxiety Disorder

Answer 10

Excessive and unreasonable fear of being negatively judged by others.

Question 11

Agoraphobia

Answer 11

Persistent, excessive, unreasonable fear of being in a situation where something bad might happen.

Question 12

Factors Contributing to Anxiety Disorders

Answer 12

Biological
- Stress response
- Brain chemistry
Psychological
- Learning processes
- Catastrophic thinking
Social
- Transmission of threat information
- Parental modelling

Question 13

Stress Response

Answer 13

Research suggests that some people with an anxiety disorder experience an over-reactive autonomic nervous system when they perceive a threat.

Question 14

Brain Chemistry

Answer 14

An imbalance in brain chemistry involving the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA may contribute to anxiety disorders.
Low levels of GABA can be a predisposing factor for the development of an anxiety disorder.

Question 15

Learning Processes

Answer 15

Classical conditioning: the association between two stimuli can contribute to specific phobias.
Operant conditioning: can reinforce or perpetuate specific phobias.

Question 16

Behavioural Models

Answer 16

Imply that anxiety disorders can be learned, condition-aacquired, maintained or modified by the environment and environmental consequences.

Question 17

Two Factor Learning Theory

Answer 17

States that anxiety is precipitated through classical conditioning and is perpetuated through operant conditioning.

Question 18

Precipitation by Classical Conditioning

Answer 18

A fear response is learned initially by associating a fear response to a stimulus that did not initially cause that response.

Question 19

Precipitation by Operant Conditioning

Answer 19

Once a response has been learned the person starts to avoid the stimulus which reinforces the avoidance behaviour.

Question 20

Catastrophic Thinking

Answer 20

A thinking style that involves overestimating, exaggerating or magnifying an object or situation and predicting the worst possible outcomes.

Question 21

Transmission of Threat Information

Answer 21

Refers to how the people around us communicate about potentially dangerous events and objects.

Question 22

Parental Modelling

Answer 22

Refers to the process of children learning to imitate their parents behaviours. It has a significant influence on the types of objects and events that children learn to view as threatening or stressful.

Question 23

Interventions for Anxiety Disorders

Answer 23

Interventions should focus on addressing biological, social and psychological factors.

Question 24

Cognitive Behaviour Interventions

Answer 24

Identifying and challenging cognitive distortions is a major focus along with education.

Question 25

Systematic Desensitisation

Answer 25

A behaviour therapy that aims to replace an anxiety response with relaxation responses when an individual is exposed to the fear stimulus.