mental illness - anxiety disorders Flashcards
Anxiety Disorders - what is anxiety? what is AD? includes?
- Anxiety: feeling of doom + physiological reactions
- class of mental disorder in which anxiety is the predominant feature
- Includes: GAD, panic disorder, phobic disorders, OCD + PTSD
General Anxiety Disorder (GAD) - def? meaning of generalized?
- chronic and excessive worrying accompanied by 3 or more of the following: restlessness, fatigue, concentration problems, irritability, muscle tension + sleep disturbance
- generalized: worries aren’t focused on any particular threat, but often exaggerated and irrational
GAD - %? status? gender?
- 5% of north Americans estimated to suffer from GAD at some time in their lives
- More frequently in lower socioeconomic groups
- Twice as common in women as in in men
Biological and Psychological Factors - GAD?
- Mild to modes level of heritability (ID twins have slightly higher concordance rates)
- psychological: anxiety provoking situations, stressful experiences play a role
GAD - treatment? which drugs? suggests?
- Treated with some drugs
- suggests neurotransmitter imbalance plays a role in the disorder
- Benzodiazepines: sedative drugs like Valium, Librium
- Stimulate neurotransmitter GABA =result is sedative =muscle relaxant
Phobia - def? vs fear?
- marked, persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of specific objects or situations or activities
- Fear becomes a phobia when it makes normal life difficult
- Person usually recognizes fear is irrational, but can’t prevent it from interfering with life
Agoraphobia
- literal meaning: ‘fear of open spaces’
- Fear of having a panic attack
- afraid of something that might trigger a panic attack (e.g. standing in line, parties, open space, crowded places, etc.)
- fear of losing control (one foot in phobia disorders, one foot in anxiety disorders)
Social Phobia - fear of?
- Fear of social situations : irrational fear of being publicly humiliated or embarrassed
- Fear of being judged; people are driven away from social situations because they’re afraid of being judged
- public speaking, eating in public, situations that involve being observed or interacting with unfamiliar people
Social Phobia - emergence? gender? socioeconomic?
- Typically emerges between early adolescence and age 25
- 11% men and 15% women
- Higher rates among undereducated and low incomes
Specific Phobia - def? categories? %? gender?
- Umbrella term for phobias of specific things
- irrational fear of a particular object or situation that markedly interferes with an individual’s ability to function
- Five categories: animals, natural environments (heights, darkness, water, storms), situations (elevators, enclosed places), blood/injections/injury, and other phobias (including illness and death)
- 11% US will develop this
- more common in women than men
Why phobias are so common - preparedness theory?
- Predisposition to be fearful of certain things – some phobias could pose real threat
- Preparedness theory of phobias: people are instinctively predisposed toward certain fears
- Quickly conditioned to fear snakes and spiders but not neutral stimuli like flowers, toys
Why phobias are so common - temperament? neurobiological factors? conditioning?
- Temperament: excessive shyness and inhabitation = increased risk
- Neurobiological factors: abnormalities in neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine
- Abnormally high levels of activity in the amygdala
- Can be classical conditioned
Panic Disorders - what? DSM criteria?
- Sudden occurrence of multiple psychological and physiological symptoms that contribute to a feeling of stark terror
- feelings of extreme fear mixed with hopelessness and helplessness - like you’re going to die
- illness marked by episodic attacks of acute anxiety
- DSM-IV-TR criteria: panic disorder only if experiencing recurrent unexpected attacks and reporting significant anxiety about having another attack
Panic Disoder - symptoms, feelings?
- Acute symptoms last a few minutes: shortness of breath, clammy, sweating, irregularities in heartbeat, dizzy, fainting
- derealisation (external world feels strange/unreal)
- depersonalization (detached from body)
Common complication of Panic Disorder
- agoraphobia: fear of venturing into public places
- 3/7 will get it
Panic Disorder - % have vs diagnosed? gender? genetics?
- 22% reports having had at least one, usually during period of intense stress
- 3.5% with the actual disorder
- Women twice as likely to get it
- Strong genetic component; 30% of identical twins have it if their other has it
Panic disorder - sodium lactate?
- Chemical produces rapid, shallow breathing and heart palpitations
- Panic disorder patients acutely sensitive, while others rarely responded to drug
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) - def? anxiety’s role?
e) Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
- Repetitive, intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and ritualistic behaviours (compulsions) designed to fend off those thoughts interfere significantly with individual’s functioning
- Anxiety plays a role: obsessive thoughts produce anxiety, compulsive behaviours are performed to reduce it
- Obsessions – thoughts that won’t stop
o E.g. unwanted song stuck in your head intrusive, what an obsession is like (e.g. I’m dirty or I’m filthy)
o Irrational – fear of losing control
o Involves defence mechanisms; the way you cope with the thoughts is with a ritualistic repetitive behaviour
o Preparedness theory: same evolutionary context as phobias but these fears that may have served an evolutionary purpose now distorted and maladaptive
- Compulsions – behaviours that won’t stop
o Cycle : Obsessions anxiety compulsions relief obsessions
o Fear of losing control
o Compulsive behaviours occupy the mind (e.g. checking to see if the toaster is still plugged in; or washing hands for 2 hours)
- Most common obsessions: contamination, aggression, death, sex, disease, orderliness, disfigurement
- 4 most common compulsions: counting, checking, cleaning, and avoiding
- Trying to cope with obsessive thoughts by suppressing/ignoring not effective can actually backfire and increase frequency and intensity of thoughts
- Prevalence:
o 1.3% of people
o Lower rates in Asian cultures
o Women more susceptible than men (but only slightly)
o Moderate genetic component : ID twins higher concordance than fraternal
o Relatives of those with OCD have greater risk of other anxiety disorders
o also common in first-degree relative (e.g. parents)
- Biological hypothesis: heightened neural activity in caudate nucleus of brain, a portion of the basal ganglia involved in initiation of intentional actions
- Drugs that increase activity of NT serotonin inhibits activity of caudate nucleus, relieves symptoms
OCD - obsessions?
- Obsessions – thoughts that won’t stop
o E.g. unwanted song stuck in your head intrusive, what an obsession is like (e.g. I’m dirty or I’m filthy)
o Irrational – fear of losing control
o Involves defence mechanisms; the way you cope with the thoughts is with a ritualistic repetitive behaviour
o Preparedness theory: same evolutionary context as phobias but these fears that may have served an evolutionary purpose now distorted and maladaptive - Compulsions – behaviours that won’t stop
o Cycle : Obsessions anxiety compulsions relief obsessions
o Fear of losing control
o Compulsive behaviours occupy the mind (e.g. checking to see if the toaster is still plugged in; or washing hands for 2 hours) - Most common obsessions: contamination, aggression, death, sex, disease, orderliness, disfigurement
- 4 most common compulsions: counting, checking, cleaning, and avoiding
- Trying to cope with obsessive thoughts by suppressing/ignoring not effective can actually backfire and increase frequency and intensity of thoughts
- Prevalence:
o 1.3% of people
o Lower rates in Asian cultures
o Women more susceptible than men (but only slightly)
o Moderate genetic component : ID twins higher concordance than fraternal
o Relatives of those with OCD have greater risk of other anxiety disorders
o also common in first-degree relative (e.g. parents) - Biological hypothesis: heightened neural activity in caudate nucleus of brain, a portion of the basal ganglia involved in initiation of intentional actions
- Drugs that increase activity of NT serotonin inhibits activity of caudate nucleus, relieves symptoms
OCD - Compulsions? cycle?
- behaviours that won’t stop
o Cycle : Obsessions anxiety compulsions relief obsessions
o Fear of losing control
o Compulsive behaviours occupy the mind (e.g. checking to see if the toaster is still plugged in; or washing hands for 2 hours)
- Most common obsessions: contamination, aggression, death, sex, disease, orderliness, disfigurement
- 4 most common compulsions: counting, checking, cleaning, and avoiding
- Trying to cope with obsessive thoughts by suppressing/ignoring not effective can actually backfire and increase frequency and intensity of thoughts
- Prevalence:
o 1.3% of people
o Lower rates in Asian cultures
o Women more susceptible than men (but only slightly)
o Moderate genetic component : ID twins higher concordance than fraternal
o Relatives of those with OCD have greater risk of other anxiety disorders
o also common in first-degree relative (e.g. parents)
- Biological hypothesis: heightened neural activity in caudate nucleus of brain, a portion of the basal ganglia involved in initiation of intentional actions
- Drugs that increase activity of NT serotonin inhibits activity of caudate nucleus, relieves symptoms
OCD - most common o? c?
- obsessions: contamination, aggression, death, sex, disease, orderliness, disfigurement
- compulsions: counting, checking, cleaning, and avoiding
OCD - %? race? gender? genetics?
- 1.3% of people
- Lower rates in Asian cultures
- Women more susceptible than men (but only slightly)
- Moderate genetic component : ID twins higher concordance than fraternal
- Relatives of those with OCD have greater risk of other anxiety disorders
- common in first-degree relative (e.g. parents)
- Biological hypothesis: heightened neural activity in caudate nucleus of brain, a portion of the basal ganglia involved in initiation of intentional actions
- Drugs that increase activity of NT serotonin inhibits activity of caudate nucleus, relieves symptoms
OCD - biological hypothesis? drugs?
- heightened neural activity in caudate nucleus of brain, a portion of the basal ganglia involved in initiation of intentional actions
- Drugs that increase activity of NT serotonin inhibits activity of caudate nucleus, relieves symptoms
