Anxiety Disorders Flashcards
1
Q
What is the definition of anxiety?
A
- A feeling of unease, such as worry or fear, that can be mild or severe.
- A diagnosis is made if feeling of anxiety occurs all the time.
2
Q
What is a panic disorder?
A
- Unexpected panic attacks that may not be restricted to a specific situation or stimuli
- Charachterised by intense and abrupt feeling of fear or discomfort.
3
Q
What are symptoms of anxiety disorders?
A
- Palpitation or inc HR
- Sweating
- Trembling
- Sensations or shortness of breath
- Feelings of choking
- Chest pain
- Nausea or abdominal stress
- Feelings of dizziness/light-headed
- Chills or hot flushes
- Tingling or lack of sensation in extremitites
- Depersonalisation or derealisation
- Fear of losing control or going mad
- Fear of imminent death
4
Q
What is OCD?
A
- Combination of obsessive thoughts and compulsive activity
- Obsession: Unwanted/unpleasant thoughts that cause anxiety e.g. being burgled.
- Person tries to supress these thoughts through compulsions.
- Compulsion:Repititve behaviour a person undertakes to relieve the unpleasant feeling
- Diagnosis: Both the obsessions and compulsions must be time consuming and result in sig impact on day-day function.
5
Q
What is PTSD?
A
- Develops after experiencing threatening or horrific event/series of events
- Charachterised by:
1.Re-experiencing traumatic event
2.Avoidance of thoughts and mem attributed to the event
3.Persistent perceptions of heightened threat
6
Q
What are some additional symptoms of PTSD?
A
- Insomnia
- Nightmares
- Flashbacks
- Isolation
7
Q
What is a specific phobia?
A
- An intense fear of something that, in reality, is of little or no actual danger.
8
Q
What is social phobia/social anxiety disorder?
A
- Fear of social or performanc situations resulting from thoughts of neg judgement, embarassment or humiliation.
- Person ‘tolerates’ with dread or avoids situation.
9
Q
What is Generalised anxiety disorder?
A
- Excessive, uncontrollable worry about every day things, such as:
1. Job
2. Finances
3. Health
4. Family
5. Chores
6. Car repairs
7. Late for things - The intenity, duration and freq of the worry are disproportionate to the issue.
- May also be present with physical symptoms e.g. palpitations, sweating, trembling etc.
10
Q
Why is the prefrontal cortex important?
A
- Intellectual function AND emotional behaviour(suppresses aggro behaviou)
11
Q
Why is the amygdala important?
A
- Involved in processing emotional behaviour?
12
Q
Why are the amygdala and prefrontal cortex linked?
A
- A decrease in the connectivity between them leads to GAD.
13
Q
How much do genes and the environment contribute to GAD?
A
- Genes-30-50%
- Environment-50-70%
Environment is more important.
14
Q
How does GABA affect GAD?
A
- Dysregulation of GABA inhibitory neurotransmission
- GABAa receptor downregulation observed in GAD patients
- Symptoms of GAD are effectively treated with GABAa agonsits
15
Q
How does 5-HT affect GAD?
A
- SSRIs have efficacy for GAD
