anxiety disorders REVISE

Question 1

what is classical conditioning and which researcher is it associated with?

Answer 1

classical conditioning is learning through the pairing of one object/sound etc with a stimulus to produce a controlled response (learning through association)

PAVLOV

Question 2

what is operant conditioning and which researcher is it associated with?

Answer 2

operant conditioning is learning through the positive or negative reinforcement of an action (to produce a behaviour) or the punishment of that action (to stop producing a behaviour)

Question 3

what are the two types of behavioural conditioning?

Answer 3

classical and operant conditioning

Question 4

difference between fear and anxiety?

Answer 4

fear is the immediate response to danger
anxiety is the apprehension over an anticipated problem

fear=present=high arousal
anxiety=future=moderate arousal

Question 5

what does the Yerkes-Dodson curve suggest about arousal?

Answer 5

moderate arousal = optimum performance

too much arousal/anxiety = detrimental to performance

Question 6

what is anxiety?

Answer 6

anxiety is an unpleasant emotional state characterised by fearfulness and unwanted and distressing physical symptoms and thoughts

Question 7

when is a phobia diagnosed?

Answer 7

the fear is out of proportion to the actual threat posed by the object/situation

disrupting their life

Question 8

what is a specific phobia?

Answer 8

disproportionate fear caused by a specific object or situation
high comorbidity of specific phobias

Question 9

what is the process of the fight or flight response?

Answer 9

eyes and ears send info to amygdala which deals with emotional processing

it detects danger and sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus

hypothalamus activates sympathetic nervous system by sending signal to adrenal glands

adrenal glands pump adrenaline into the bloodstream

adrenaline stimulates changes for enough physiological arousal for the fight or flight response e.g increased heart rate and prevention of digestion

hypothalamus also activates the HPA axis which keeps the sympathetic nervous system going through hormonal signals

Question 10

what is the behavioural theory of the causes of phobias?

Answer 10

see phobias as a conditioned response which develops after a threatening experience and is maintained by avoidant behaviour

Question 11

which factors make developing a phobia more likely to be conditioned?

Answer 11

genetic vulnerability
neuroticism
if the object is life threatening as opposed to neutral (prepared learning)

Question 12

what is prepared learning?

Answer 12

our fear circuits may have been prepared by evolution to learn to fear certain stimuli that are life threatening
(supported by Cook & MIneka rhesus monkey study)

more likely that conditioning willl occur if object is threatening

Question 13

what is vicarious conditioning in respect to a cause of a phobia

Answer 13

phobia reinforced or began by watching others e.g parents scared of spiders

Question 14

what are some psychological treatments of anxiety disorders?

Answer 14

flooding
systematic desensitisation
CBT
other exposure treatments such as in vivo, virtual and imaginal

Question 15

what is systematic desensitisation?

Answer 15

unlearning the fear response to the phobic stimulus by working up the anxiety hierarchy from gradual exposure to full exposure whilst practicing a relaxed response at each stage

Question 16

what is flooding?

Answer 16

exhaustion of the fear response by full exposure to the phobic stimulus

Question 17

what is included as an anxiety disorders in DSM 5?

Answer 17

specific phobia
social anxiety disorder
generalised anxiety disorder

Question 18

what are anxiety disorders related to in terms of lifestyle?

Answer 18

twice the risk of suicideattempts
twice the average medical costs
decreased quality of life

Question 19

lifetime prevalence of anxiety disorders?

Answer 19

around 28% (includes OCD and PTSD due to previously included as anxiety disorders in DSM 4)

Question 20

what is required generally for the diagnosis of an anxiety disorder in DSM5?

Answer 20

symtpoms must interfere with functioning in everday life

symptoms must not be caused by drugs or another medical condition

fears distinct from symptoms of other anxiety disorders

Question 21

what is social anxiety disorder?

Answer 21

fear of unfamiliar people or social scrutiny

Question 22

what is panic disorder?

Answer 22

anxiety about recurrent panic attacks

Question 23

what is agoraphobia?

Answer 23

anxiety about being in a place where escaping or getting help would be difficult

Question 24

what is generalised anxiety disorder?

Answer 24

uncontrollable worry for at least 3 months

Question 25

what are the 5 disorders included under the umbrella term of anxiety disorders?

Answer 25

1. specific phobias
2. generalised anxiety disorder
3. social anxiety disorder
4. agoraphobia
5. panic disorder

Question 26

which anxiety disorder has the highest lifetime and point prevalence?

Answer 26

specific phobias and social anxiety disorders

Question 27

what is the comorbidity in anxiety disorders?

Answer 27

more than half with one anxiety disorder will have another

especially general anxiety disorder which is 4x more likely to have an anxiety disorder than the rest of the population

Question 28

what are subthreshold symptoms?

Answer 28

symptoms that do not meet full diagnostic criteria

common for those with one anxiety disorder to report these of other anxiety disorders

Question 29

what are 2 explanations of comrobidity between anxiety disorders?

Answer 29

1. symptom overlap between disorders

2. some etiological factors may increase risk or several of the disorders

Question 30

comorbidity of anxiety disorders with other mental disorders

Answer 30

3/4 of those with an anxiety disorder meet criteria for at least one other disorder

60% meet criteria for major depression

also comorbid with medical conditions

Question 31

what are 2 sociocultural factors in developing anxiety disorders?

Answer 31

1) gender - women 2x more likely to be diagnosed

2) culture - several culturally specific syndromes e.g in Japan and Inuits and prevalence lower in some areas e.g Tokyo

Question 32

why may more women be diagnosed as having anxiety disorders than men?

Answer 32

more likely to report symptoms, more likely to be sexual assault victims and more biological reactivity to stress

Question 33

why may the prevalence of anxiety disorders differ across cultures?

Answer 33

may be lower in e.g Japan due to stiga associated with mental disorders so underreporting

Question 34

what are the general risk factors for anxiety disorders?

Answer 34

1. fear conditioning (classical and operant)
2. genetic factors (20-40%)
3. neurobiological (activated fear circuit and especially amygdala and deactivated medial prefrontal cortex)
4. cognitive (lack of control and negative beliefs and attention to threat

Question 35

what are the 2 medications used to treat anxiety disorders?

Answer 35

1. benzodiazepines

2. antidepressants (SSRIs and SNRIs)

Question 36

what are the issues with using medication as a form of treatment?

Answer 36

discontinuing medications usually leads to relapse

benzodiazepines can be addictive