Mental Illness

Question 1

Fear

Answer 1

Adaptive response to threatening situations.

Many fears innate and species specific, other fears are learned.

Question 2

Anxiety Disorders

Answer 2

Caused by inappropriate expression of fear

-Most common of psychiatric disorders.

Question 3

Common anxiety disorders (5)

Answer 3

• Panic disorder
• Agoraphobia
• Generalized anxiety disorder
• Specific phobias
• Social phobia

Question 4

Disorders characterized by increased anxiety (2)

Answer 4

• PTSD

- OCD

Question 5

Biological basis of anxiety disorders

Answer 5

1. Genetic predisposition for many anxiety disorders
2. fear evoked by threatening stimulus=stressor–manifested by stress response. The response relationship is strengthened/weakened by experience
3. Stress response: humoral response

Question 6

Stress response of anxiety

Answer 6

Humoural response: Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal axis

CRH (hypothalamus)–>ACTH (anterior pituitary gland)–> cortisol (adrenal gland)–> Physiological changes (fight or flight)

Question 7

Push-pull regulation

Answer 7

H-P-A axis regulation by the amygdala and hippocampus

Question 8

Regulation of CRH neurons

Answer 8

Amygdala projects to bed of the nucleus of the stria terminalis, activates the H-P-A axis.

Hippocampus deactivates the H-P-A axis.
-Glucocorticoid receptors by route of a feedback loop

Question 9

HPA push-pull influence of Amygdala and hippocampus

Answer 9

Amygdala (+) and Hippocampus (-) affect on HPA. Cortisol sends (+)ve feedback to hippocampus

Question 10

Anxiety treadment

Answer 10

• Psychotherapy
• Anxiolytic meds (GABA, Benzo’s, SSRI)
• New drugs: target CRH receptors

Question 11

Action of Benzodiazepine/ethanol/GABA

Answer 11

binds onto neurotransmitter-gated Cl- ion channel (receptor)