Class 2 Flashcards
anxiety disorder
class of mental disorders in which anxiety is the predominant
phobic disorders
disorders characterized by marked, persistent, and excessive fear and avoidance of specific objects activities, or situations
specific phobia
disorder that involves an irrational fear of a particuar object or situation that markedly interferes with an individual’s ability to function
social phobia
disorder that involves an irrational fear of being publically humiliated or embarrassed
TA notes: people are anxious about social situations, avoid social interactions, and are extremely self-conscious
preparedness theory
idea that people are instinctively predisposed toward certain fears
panic disorder
disorder characterized by sudden occurence of multiple psychological and physiological symptoms that contribute to a feeling of stark terror
TA notes: people have extreme panic attacks and become scared of situations in which they would not be able to escape
agoraphobia
specific phobia involving a fear of public places
TA: fear of crowds and going outside.
people establish safe zones and dont leave town, house, etc
generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
disorder characterized by chronic excessive worry accompanied by three or more of the following symptoms: restlessness, fatigue, concentration problems, irritiability, muslce tension, and sleep disturbance
obssessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
disorder in which repetitive, intrusive thoughts (obsesssions) and ritualistic behaviors (compulsions) designed to fend off those thoughts interfere significantly with an individual’s functioning
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
disorder characterized by chronic phsiological arousal, recurrent unwanted thoughts or images of the trauma and to avoidance of things that call the traumatic event to mind
types of anxiety disorders:
phobias, social anxiety disorder, panic (w or w/o agoraphobia), agoraphobia, GAD
sick dude!
learn about phobias here:
caused by classical conditioning (repeated pairing of unconditioned stimulus and conditioned stimulus)
Behavior therapy treatments on back of flashcard
flooding: exposing patient to object of phobia all at once in order to extinguish phobia
systematic desensization: create fear hierarchy, teach relaxation techniques, start lowest on hierarchy pair relaxation w the stimuli until fear is gone then move up hierarchy
graded exposure: being in contact with feared stimulus in some way
these also work for panic and social anxiety (not GAD)
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
excessive and constant worry. cant control the worry
some symptoms: fatigued, restlessness, sleep disturbance, irritability, difficulty concentrating
causes: genetics,deficiency in inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA or GABA receptors, cognition (people with it tend to focus on threats in environment and engage in catastrophic thinking), environment: unpredictable life experiences w the message that one cannot control or cope with them
disturbance not attributable to substance or medical condition
treatment for GAD
regular use of relaxing/breathing exercise, acceptance based behavior therapy, mindfulness practice (focus on present)
