Anxiety, Social Psych, Love Flashcards
What is Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)?
Persistent, excessive worry and anxiety for no obvious reason, lasting 6 months or more.
What are the symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)?
Constant anxiety and worry about multiple things, difficulty sleeping or insomnia, autonomic nervous system arousal (sweating, heart palpitations, fidgeting), and ‘free-floating’ anxiety (not linked to a specific stressor or threat).
What is the prevalence of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)?
More common in females than males, more common in white individuals, and has a genetic component.
What is Panic Disorder?
Recurrent panic attacks with intense fear and anxiety about future attacks.
What are the symptoms of Panic Disorder?
Panic attacks often mistaken for heart attacks and fear of having future attacks can worsen the condition.
What is the prevalence of Panic Disorder?
More common in females than males.
What are the biological explanations for Panic Disorder?
Increased right-sided activation in the limbic system , genetic component, and smokers have twice the risk and greater symptom severity during attacks.
What is the cognitive explanation for Panic Disorder?
Panic attacks are misinterpreted physiological symptoms (e.g., racing heart) as life-threatening, leading to further panic.
What outcomes can Panic Disorder trigger?
May trigger agoraphobia (fear of being in public spaces).
What are the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?
Intrusion (flashbacks, intrusive dreams, hallucinations), avoidance (avoidance of reminders or discussions of the trauma), negative alterations in cognition and mood (survivor guilt, self-blame, emotional numbness), and alterations in arousal and reactivity (hypervigilance, explosive emotional reactions, exaggerated startle response).
What is the prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?
Seen in 8% of the population and more common in females than males.
What are the biological factors of PTSD?
Overactive sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and genetic predisposition.
What psychological factors affect PTSD?
Strong social support reduces the risk of developing PTSD, while prior trauma history increases vulnerability.
What environmental factors contribute to PTSD?
High stress of the event (e.g., war, assault) and systemic issues like racism and inequality increase risk.
What are the treatment challenges for PTSD?
Issues with SNS regulation make recovery more difficult.
What is a phobia?
Intense fear of a specific object or situation, often recognized as excessive, but uncontrollable.
What are simple phobias?
Fear of specific objects or situations (e.g., heights, spiders).
What is the prevalence of phobias?
More common in females than males.
What are the explanations for phobias?
Evolutionary
Psychodynamic
Behavioral
Cognitive
Evolutionary (fears were necessary for survival)
Psychodynamic (anxiety displaced onto an object)
Behavioral ( learned through traumatic experience)
Cognitive ( exaggerated beliefs about danger)
What is Social Anxiety Disorder?
Intense fear of being judged or evaluated negatively in social situations.
What is the prevalence of Social Anxiety Disorder?
Affects 12% of the population.
What is the brain activation pattern in Social Anxiety Disorder?
Increased right-sided activation in the brain during social interactions.
What is Agoraphobia?
Fear of being in public spaces where escape might be difficult or help unavailable during a panic attack.
What is the prevalence of Agoraphobia?
Affects 1% of the population.
How is Agoraphobia related to Panic Disorder?
Often develops in individuals with a history of panic attacks.
What is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)?
Recurrent, intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and compulsive behaviors performed to reduce anxiety caused by those thoughts.
What are obsessions and compulsions in OCD?
Obsessions are unwanted, disturbing thoughts, while compulsions are behaviors performed to alleviate the distress caused by the obsessions.
What is the prevalence of OCD?
Affects about 2% of the population, more common in teens and young adults, with equal prevalence in men and women.
What are the explanations for OCD?
Psychodynamic
Behavioral
Cognitive
Psychodynamic (unresolved conflicts during the anal stage)
Behavioral (compulsive behaviors reduce anxiety)
Cognitive (difficulty managing intrusive thoughts)
What are OCD-related disorders?
Hoarding Disorder (difficulty discarding items), Body Dysmorphic Disorder (preoccupation with perceived body flaws), Trichotillomania (hair-pulling disorder), and Excoriation (skin-picking disorder).
What are the treatments for OCD?
Behavioral therapies (e.g., exposure and response prevention), cognitive therapy (challenging distorted thoughts), and biological treatments (anti-anxiety medications like SSRIs and anti-obsessional drugs).
What are the behavioral therapies for anxiety disorders?
Systematic Desensitization (gradual exposure), flooding (immediate exposure), and social learning (observational learning).
What are the biological treatments for anxiety disorders?
Anti-anxiety drugs (e.g., benzodiazepines) for short-term relief and SSRIs for treating anxiety disorders, especially OCD.
What are the conditioning explanations for anxiety disorders?
Classical conditioning (anxiety learned by associating neutral stimuli with fear) and stimulus generalization (fear of one object leads to fear of similar objects).