Module 66: Anxiety Disorder Flashcards
Anxiety Disorders
Psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that induce anxiety
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
An anxiety disorder in which a person is continually tense, apprehensive, and in a state of autonomic nervous system arousal
What are some markers of Generalized Anxiety Disorder?
Out-of-control, agitated feelings suggest generalized anxiety disorder, which is marked by the EXCESSIVE and UNCONTROLLABLE worry that persists for 6 MONTHS OR MORE
- 2/3 woman
- often jittery ; agitated
- sleep-deprived
Social Anxiety Disorder
Intense fear and avoidance of social situations (formerly called social phobia)
What’re some of the criteria for social anxiety disorder?
- extremely anxious in social settings where others might judge them (parties, class presentation, eating in public)
- may avoid going out to avoid anxious thoughts and feelings + physical symptoms (sweating & trembling)
What are some characteristics of generalized anxiety disorder?
The person usually cannot identify, and therefore relieve or avoid, the tension’s cause.
- free-floating
- not linked to a specific stressor or threat)
- could lead to physical problems (high blood pressure, sleep disturbances,etc.)
Panic Disorder
An anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable, minutes-long episodes of intense dread - panic attacks- in which a person may experience terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations; often followed by worrying over a possible next attack
What do people commonly confuse panic attacks feel like?
Heart Attack
Agoraphobia
Fear or avoidance of public situations from which escape might be difficult
How can panic attacks lead to agoraphobia?
After several panic attacks, people may avoid situations where panic might strike. If their fear is intense enough, people may develop agoraphobia
Phobia
An anxiety disorder marked by a persistent irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object, activity, or situation
What are some examples of specific phobias?
- animals
- insects
- heights
- blood
- close spaces
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
A disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions), actions (compulsions), or both
What are obsessive thoughts?
Unwanted and so repetitive it may seem they will never go away
What are compulsive behaviors?
Responses to obsessive thoughts
When does ritual and fussy behavior cross the line of normal to disordered?
Rituals and fussy behaviors cross the fine line between normality and disorder when they persistently interfere with everyday living and cause distress
What is the difference between normal behavior and one suggesting OCD?
normal: Checking that you locked the door
Sign of disorder: Checking 10 times that you locked the door
Normal: Washing your hands thoroughly
Sign of disorder: Washing your hands so often that your skin becomes raw
What other disorders are classified as OCD-related disorders in DSM-5?
- hoarding disorder (cluttering one’s space w/ acquired possessions on can’t let go)
- body dysmorphic disorder (preoccupation w/ perceived body defects)
- trichotillomania (hair-pulling)
- excoriation disorder (excessive skin-picking)
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
A disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, hypervigilance, social withdrawal, jumpy, anxiety, numbness of feeling, and/or insomnia that lingers for Four Weeks or More after a traumatic experience.
What are some symptoms of PTSD?
Haunting memories & nightmares, laser-focused attention to possible threats, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, and trouble sleeping
Treatment for PTSD?
Participating in an intensive recovery program using deep breathing, massage, group & individual discussion techniques to treat their PTSD.
Why do some develop PTSD after a traumatic event?
- the amount of trauma-related emotional distress
- the higher the distress the greater the risk for PTSD symptoms.
- more sensitive emotion-processing limbic system that floods their bodies with stress hormones (explains why PTSD may coexist w/ other disorders)
- 2x higher for women than men
How does conditioning impact anxiety disorders, OCD, and PTSD?
- anxious or traumatized people learn to associate their anxiety with certain cues
- 58% of those w/ social anxiety disorder developed the disorder following a traumatic event
- anxiety or related disorders are more likely to develop when bad events happen unpredictably and uncontrollably
What is stimulus generalization?
The tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses.
*in operant conditioning, stimulus generalization occurs when responses learned in one situation occur in other, similar situations
How does stimulus generalization explain anxiety, OCD, and PTSD?
Stimulus generalization occurs when a person experiences a fearful event and later develops a fear of similar events
What is reinforcement and how does it help explain anxiety, OCD, and PTSD?
Reinforcement: any event that strengthens the behavior it follows
- reinforcement helps maintain learned fears and anxieties. Anything that enables us to avoid or escape a feared situation can reinforce maladaptive behaviors
ex. fearing a panic attack, we may decide not to leave the house. Reinforced by feeling calmer, we are likely to repeat the behavior in the future.
How does cognition impact anxiety?
Cognition, our thoughts, memories, interpretations, and expectations influence our feelings of anxiety.
- past experiences shape our expectations and influence our interpretations and reactions
What research has been conducted on cognition and anxiety?
- Susan Mineka experimented w/ 6 monkeys
- parents scared of snakes new offsprings weren’t
- after repeatedly observing their parents or peers refusing to reach for food in the presence of a snake, the younger monkeys developed a similar fear of snakes - the fear persisted
How do genes impact anxiety, OCD, and PTSD?
- 17 gene variations associated with typical anxiety disorder symptoms
- genes associated specifically with OCD
- one identical twin has an anxiety disorder - the other at risk
- even when raised separately, identical twins may develop similar phobias
How do genes regulate neurotransmitters that impact anxiety, OCD, and PTSD?
- some genes influence disorders by regulating brain levels of neurotransmitters
- serotonin - influences sleep, mood, and attention to threats
- glutamate, heighten activity in the brain’s alarm centers.
How do our experiences change our brain?
- our experiences change our brain, paving new pathways
- traumatic fear-learning experiences can leave tracks in the brain, creating fear circuits within the amygdala
- easy inroads for more fear experiences
How are brain structures involved?
Brain scans of people with OCD reveal elevated activity in the anterior cingulate in the anterior cingulate cortex during behaviors such as compulsive hand washing, checking, ordering, or hoarding.
What role does the anterior cingulate cortex play in OCD?
The anterior cingulate cortex, a brain region that monitors our actions and checks for errors, seems especially likely to be hyperactive
How does natural selection underlie our fears?
- we seem biologically prepared to fear threats faced by our ancestors
- our phobias focus on specific fears such as spiders, snakes, and other animals; enclosed spaces and heights; storms and darkness
- those fearless about these occasional threats were less likely to survive and leave descendants
