Generalised Anxiety Disorder

Question 1

what are the physiological symptoms produced from an anxiety response?

Answer 1

muscle tension, tiredness, high BP, tense, restless, difficulty sleeping, headaches

Question 2

who is GAD most common in?

Answer 2

women, people living alone

Question 3

what is the average age of onset of GAD?

Answer 3

21 years

Question 4

what triggers anxiety?

Answer 4

uncertainty

Question 5

give some of the features of GAD that are different to normal worry

Answer 5

worry about all sorts of things, expect the worst, uncontrollable, worries = extremely upsetting and stressful, significantly disrupts job and social life, worrying almost everyday for at least 6 months

Question 6

what are the 2 types of beliefs about worrying?

Answer 6

positive (if i worry about a negative event ill be prepared) and negative (I will lose my mind with worry)

Question 7

what behaviours are associated with feelings of anxiety and worry?

Answer 7

avoid situations, check up on things/others, seek reassurance, try to stop thoughts, distracting activity, excessive preparing

Question 8

what causes anxiety when facing different situations?

Answer 8

worried they won’t know how to cope with each situation

Question 9

how often does symptoms of worry and anxiety have to occur for it to be a GAD diagnosis?

Answer 9

most days on a regular basis

Question 10

list the different theories of aetiology for GAD

Answer 10

biological, heritable influences, environmental factors, cognitive biases

Question 11

GAD runs in families but heritability is ____

Answer 11

low

Question 12

if GAD isn’t inherited what may be the heritable influence?

Answer 12

personality trait that predisposes the individual to any type of anxiety

Question 13

in what brain area do GAD sufferers show hyper-responsivity?

Answer 13

amygdala

Question 14

in female GAD sufferers, what was shown with the amygdala in brain imaging scans?

Answer 14

fMRI > showed greater response, larger in GAD patients than controls, greater activation to negative images

Question 15

what are the 3 environmental factors that affect GAD?

Answer 15

negative life events, attachment style, modelling

Question 16

increase risk by questioning stability and predictability of the world > leads to constant anxiety in order to prepare for unpredictable events =

Answer 16

negative life events

Question 17

individuals who develop anxious or insecure attachments during infancy is associated with anxiety later in life =

Answer 17

attachment styles

Question 18

what are young adults more likely to report about their parents if they have a GAD diagnosis?

Answer 18

felt rejected by parents, over-controlling, emotionally cold

Question 19

if children see parents acting in anxious way to environment this will influence them =

Answer 19

modelling

Question 20

bias that maintains hypervigilience for threat, create further source of worry and maintain anxiety =

Answer 20

information processing bias

Question 21

a sufferer who is constantly focusing on the negative and seeking things that go wrong have a bias in?

Answer 21

information processing

Question 22

what does evidence suggest sufferers focus their attention on?

Answer 22

threatening stimuli and info

Question 23

when presenting patients with happy or sad faces and positive and negative events, what were the findings?

Answer 23

largely focused on sad faces and negative events

Question 24

the cognitive bias model (attentional and information processing bias) gave rise to what intervention?

Answer 24

attention bias modification

Question 25

what are the 3 different drug treatments for GAD?

Answer 25

benzodiazepines, B-blockers, SSRIs

Question 26

what are benzodiazepines also known as?

Answer 26

anxiolytics (for anxiety relieving properties)

Question 27

how do benzos work?

Answer 27

help patient relax by stimulating GABA receptors > block excitatory activity

Question 28

what are the issues with benzos?

Answer 28

addictive, unpleasant withdrawal effects

Question 29

how do B-blockers work?

Answer 29

block effects of adrenaline > dampen down stress response > relax patient

Question 30

why are SSRIs the most common and effective drug for GAD?

Answer 30

anxiety is comorbid with depression so when given SSRIs they are effective in managing anxiety

Question 31

what is the aim of stimulus control treatment?

Answer 31

stop worrying in all situations and limit worry to a specific time of day in a specific location (LIMIT CONTEXT IN WHICH WORRYING OCCURS)

Question 32

what are the 4 different components of CBT for GAD?

Answer 32

self-monitoring, cognitive restructuring, relaxation training, behavioural rehearsal

Question 33

targets maladaptive cognitions with the aim to target distorted cognitions, cognitive biases in attention and information processing =

Answer 33

CBT

Question 34

describe the CBT process

Answer 34

asked to imagine worst possible outcome of a worry, practice ways to cope with situations that don’t go to plan