Module 48: Anxiety-Related Disorders

Question 1

anxiety disorders

Answer 1

marked by distressing, persistent anxiety, or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety

Question 2

generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

Answer 2

person is continually tense, apprehensive, and in a state of autonomic nervous system arousal (all the time)

Question 3

panic disorder

Answer 3

person experiences sudden episodes of intense dread and often lives in fear of when the next attack might strike (“attack”)

Question 4

phobia

Answer 4

person experiences a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object, activity, or situation. (specific)

Question 5

obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

Answer 5

characterized by persistent and repetitive thoughts (obsessions), actions (compulsions), or both.
obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors interfere with everyday life and cause distress
more common among teens and young adults than among older people

Question 6

posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD(

Answer 6

characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, numbness of feeling, and/or insomnia lingering for 4 weeks or more after a traumatic experience
affects veterans, survivors of accidents/disasters, and violent and sexual assaults
women are at higher risk

Question 7

somatic symptom disorder

Answer 7

psychological disorder whose symptoms take a somatic (bodily) form without apparent physical cause

Question 8

illness anxiety disorder

Answer 8

a disorder in which a person interprets normal physical sensations as symptoms of a disease (hypochondriasis)

Question 9

biology in anxiety-related disorders

Answer 9

▪ Genes: Genetic predisposition to anxiety, OCD, and PTSD
▪ The brain: Trauma linked to new fear pathways, hyperactive danger detection, impulse control, and habitual behavior areas of brain
▪ Natural selection: Biological preparedness to fear threats; easily conditioned and difficult to extinguish