Term
| what are anxiety disorders? |
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Definition
anxiety, a generalized sense of apprehension or fear, is normal and desirable under some conditions, but it can become abnormal when it is excessive or inappropriate -disturbed patterns of behavior in which anxiety is the most prominent feature are labeled anxiety disorders |
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Term
| what is a panic disorder? |
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Definition
-characterized by often immobilizing, repeated panic attacks, which involve intense physical features, notably cardiovascular symptoms, that may be accompanied by sheer terror or fears of losing contro, losing one's mind, or dying -panic attack sufferer's often limit their outside activity in fear of recurrent attacks -this can lead to agoraphobia, the fear of venturing into public places |
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Term
| how is a panic attack understood in contemporary views? |
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Definition
-the predominant model conceptualizes panic disorder in terms of a combination of biological factors (genetics) and cognitive factors (anxiety sensitivity or misinterpretation of bodily sensations) -panic disorder involves physiological and psycholgical factors interacting in a vicious cycle that can spiral into a full-blown panic |
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Term
| what are major treatment approaches for panic disorders? |
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Definition
-cognitive-behavioral treatment of panic disorder incorporates self-monitoring, exposure to panic-related cues (including bodily sensations) and development of coping responses for handling panic attacks without catastrophic misinterpretations of bodily cues -biomedical approaches incorporate use of antidepressant drugs, which have antianxiety and antipanic effects as well as antidepressant effects |
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Term
| what are phobic disorders? |
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Definition
-phobias are excessive irrational fears of specific objects or situations -involve behavioral component: avoidance of the phobic stimulus (in addition to physical or cognitive fears) -specific phobias are excessive fears of particular objects or situations such as mice, spiders, tight places, or heights |
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Term
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Definition
| involves an intense fear of being judged negatively by others |
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Term
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Definition
-involves fears of venturing into public places -may occur with, or without, panic disorder |
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Term
| psychodynamic perspective of phobias |
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Definition
-anxiety is a danger signal that threatening impulses of a sexual or aggressive(murderous or suicidal) nature are nearing the level of awareness -to fight off threatening impulses the ego mobilzes its defense mechanisms -person PROJECTS(projection/freud) their own threatening impulses onto a phobic object (fear of knives example) |
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Term
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Definition
-conditioning and observational learning -Mowrer's two factor model incorporates classical and operant conditioning in the explanation of phobias -phobias appear to be moderated by cognitive factors (such as oversensitivity to threatening cues, overpredictions of dangerousness, and self-defeating thoughts and irrational beliefs) -genetic factors also appear to increase proneness to development of phobias |
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Term
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Definition
| investigators believe that we are genetically predisposed to acquire certain types of phobias that may have had survival value for our prehistoric ancestors |
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Term
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Definition
| major forms of treatment include learning-based approaches(systematic desensitization and gradual exposure), cognitive therapy and drug therapy |
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Term
| what is obsessive-compulsive disorder? (OCD) |
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Definition
-involves recurrent patterns of obsessions, compulsions, or a combination of the two |
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Term
obsession (as part of OCD) |
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Definition
-nagging, persistent thoughts that create anxiety and seem beyond the person's ability to control |
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Term
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Definition
-apparently irresistible repetitious urges to perform certain behaviors -example: such as repeated elaborate washing after using the bathroom |
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Term
| how is obsessive-compulsive disorder understood? |
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Definition
-within the psychodynamic tradition, obsessions represent leakage of unconscious impulses into consciousness, and compulsions are acts that help keep these impulses repressed -research on biological factors highlights roles for genetics and for brain mechanisms involved in signaling danger and controlling repetitive behaviors -research evidence shows roles for cognitive factors (such as overfocusing on one's thoughts or perfectionism) -learning theorists view compulsive behaviors as operant responses that are negatively reinforced by relief of anxiety produced by obsessional thinking |
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Term
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Definition
major contemporary treatment approaches include: -learning-based models (exposure w/ response prevention) -cognitive therapy (correction of cognitive distortions) -use of SSRI-type antidepressants |
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Term
| what is generalized anxiety disorder? |
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Definition
| a type of anxiety disorder involving persistent anxiety that seems to be "free floating" or not tied to specific situations |
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Term
| how is generalized anxiety disorder understood by psychodynamic theorists? |
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Definition
-they view this as an attempt by the ego to control the conscious emergence of threatening impulses -feelings of anxiety are seen as warning signals that threatening impulses are nearing awareness |
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Term
| how is generalized anxiety disorder understood? |
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Definition
-Learning-based models focus on the generalization of anxiety across stimulus situations -cognitive theorists seek to account for generalized anxiety in terms of faulty thoughts of beliefs that underlie worry -biological models focus on irregularities in neurotransmitter functioning in the brain |
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Term
| what are the two types of traumatic stress disorders? |
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Definition
-acute stress disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder -both involve maladaptive reactions to traumatic stress |
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Term
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Definition
| -occurs in the days and weeks following exposure to a traumatic event |
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Term
| posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) |
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Definition
| -persists for months or even years or decades after the traumatic experience and may not begin until months or years after the event |
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Term
| how might we understand the development of PTSD? |
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Definition
-learning theories provides a framework for understanding the conditioning of fear to trauma-related stimuli and the role of negative reinforcement in maintaining avoidance behavior -other factors, however, come into play in determining vulnerability to PTSD, including the degree of exposure to the trauma and personal characteristics *example: childhood of sexual abuse with a lack of social support system |
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Term
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Definition
| -major treatment approach is cognitive-behavioral therapy that focuses on repeated exposure to cues associated with the trauma and may be combined with cognitive restructuring and training in stress management and anger management techniques |
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Term
| what relationships exist between ethinicity and the prevalence of anxiety disorders? |
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Definition
| -evidence from nationally representative samples of US adults showed generally lower rates of some anxiety disorders among ethnic minorities |
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Term
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Definition
-an emotional state characterized by physiological arousal, unpleasant feelings of tension, and a sense of apprehension or foreboding -useful because it prompts us to seek regular medical checkups or motivates us to study for tests -becomes abnormal when it occurs out of the blue, not in response to environmental changes or when its level is out of proportion to the threat -can be experienced as an intense fear associated with panic attack or as a generalized foreboding or worry (apparent in generalized anxiety disorder) |
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Term
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Definition
-a class of psychological disorders characterized by excessive or maladaptive anxiety reactions -maladaptive reaction that can cause significant emotional distress or impair thr person's ability to function |
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Term
Mowrer's two-factor model |
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Definition
-a theoretical model that accounts for the development of phobic reactions on the basis of classical and operant conditioning -the fear component is believed to be acquired through classical conditioning as previous neutral objects and situations gain capacity to evoke fear by being paired with noxious or aversive stimuli -the avoidance component is acquired and maintained by operant conditioning, specifically by negative reinforcement |
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Term
| physical features of anxiety |
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Definition
| -jumpiness, jitteriness, trembling, shaking, tightness in stomach or chest, heavy perspiration, sweaty palms, light-headedness, faintness, dry mouth or throat, shortness of breath, heart pounding or racing, cold fingers or limbs, upset stomach or nausea among others |
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Term
| behavioral features of anxiety |
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Definition
| avoidance behavior, clinging or dependent behavior, agitated behavior |
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Term
| cognitive features of anxiety |
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Definition
| worry, nagging sense of dread or apprehension about the future, preoccupation or keen awareness of bodily sensations, fear of losing control, thinking the same disturbing thoughts over and over, jumbled or confused thoughts, difficulty concentrating or focusing one's toughts, and thinkin that things are gettin out of hand |
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Term
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Definition
| derived from roots meaning "an abnormal or diseased condition of the nervous system" |
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Term
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Definition
-a type of anxiety disorder characterized by repeated episodes of intense anxiety or panic -repeated, unexpected panic attacks |
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Term
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Definition
-intense anxiety reactions accompanied by physical symptoms such as a pounding heart, rapid respiration, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, heavy sweating, weakness and dizziness -accompanied by feelings of sheer terror and sense of imminent danger or impending thoughts of losing control, going crazy, or dying -ppl often mistake them for heartache although nothing is wrong with the heart |
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Term
| panic attacks + agoraphobia |
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Definition
| panic disorder WITHOUT agoraphobia is much more prevalent (lifetime rate of 4%) than panic disorder WITH agoraphobia(lifetime rate of 1.1%) |
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Term
| diagnosis of panic attacks |
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Definition
person must have repeated, unexpected panic attacks followed by (at least one of) -at least a month of persistent fear of subsequent attacks -worry about the implications or consequences of the attack (fear of losing mind/control and going crazy) -significant change in behavior (refusing to leave home or venture into public for fear of another attack) |
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Term
| suffocation false alarm theory |
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Definition
-proposed by Psychiatrist Donald Klein -a defect in the brain's respiratory alarm system triggers a false alarm in response to minor cues of suffocation -small changes in levels of carbon dioxide in blood (from hyperventilation for ex.) produce sensations of suffocating, leading to alarm stage (for no reason) |
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Term
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Definition
GABA, an inhibitory neurotransmitter, tones down excess activity in the nervous system -low levels in the brain were found in panic disorder patients |
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Term
cognitive-behavioral therapy for panic attacks |
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Definition
-coping skills, breathing retraining, relaxation training used to reduce states of heightened bodily arousal -therapist helps patient think differently about changes in bodily cues(such as dizziness of heart palpitations)...help them realize they are fleeting snesations rather than signs of a heart attack, client can cope with them without panicking |
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Term
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Definition
| a technique that aims at restoring a normal level of carbon dioxide in the blood by having clients breathe slowly and deeply from the abs, avoiding the shallow, rapid breathing that leads to breathing off too much carbon dioxide |
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Term
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Definition
-aka social anxiety disorder -an intense fear of social situations that they may avoid them altogether or endure them only with great distress -underlying problem is excessive fear of being negavtively judged by others -fear doing or saying something humiliating or embarassing -severly critical of their own social skills and become focused on evaluating their own performance in social interactions -can experience panic attacks in social situations |
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Term
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Definition
| a fear of an object or situation that is diproportionate to the threat it poses |
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Term
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Definition
-persistent, excessive fear of a specific object or situation, such as fear of heights (acrophobia) or fear of enclosed spaces (claustrophobia) -person experiences high levels of fear or physiological arousal when encountering the phobic object, which prompts stong urges to avoid or escape the situation or avoid the feared stimulus |
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Term
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Definition
-a behavioral therapy using a method of overcoming fears through a stepwise process of exposure to increasingly fearful stimuli in imagination or in real-life situations -leads to extinction of fear as well as cognitive changes, can overcome the fear which makes them realize they can handle situations more effectively - |
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Term
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Definition
| -imagining oneself in the fearful place |
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Term
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Definition
-actual encounters with phobic stimuli in real life -probably more effective than imaginal exposure |
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Term
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Definition
-a behavioral therapy technique used for overcoming fears by means of exposure to high levels of fear-inducing stimuli -the anxiety they feel represents a conditioned response and if they remain in that situation for an extended period of time without anything happening the anxiety should dissipate -used for both social phobia and PTSD |
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Term
| negative reinforcement with phobias |
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Definition
| -relief from anxiety negatively reinforces the avoidance of fearful stimuli, which thus serves to strengthen the avoidance response |
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Term
| observational learning with phobias |
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Definition
-observing parents or significant others model a fearful reaction to a stimulus that can lead to the acquisition of a fearful response -even hearing people talk about their fears of a specific object or situation (like spiders) can lead to the development of phobias |
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Term
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Definition
-belief in a biological predisposition to acquire fears of certain types of objects or situations -suggests that evolution favored the survival of human ancestors who were genetically predisposed to develop fears of potentially threatening objects such as large animals, snakes and spiders, heights, enclosed spaces, and even strangers -this model can explain why we are more likely to develop fears of spiders or heights over objects that appeared much later on the evolutionary scene such as guns or knives, even though guns and knives pose a more direct threat to our survival today |
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Term
| oversensitivity to threatening cues |
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Definition
-people today may have inherited an acutely sensitive internal alarm that leads them to become overly sensitive to threatening cues -they percieve danger in situations that most people consider safe (ie driving over a bridge or going in an elevator) |
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Term
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Definition
-overpredict how much fear or anxiety they will experience in the fearful situation -the tendency to expect the worse encourages avoidance of feared situations, which prevents the individual from learning to manage and overcome anxiety -also if they overpredict and avoid the situation for too long (ie dental visits) they may develop a larger problem that DOES involve pain so when they do confront the dentist it confirms their fear |
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Term
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Definition
-thoughts like "i HAVE to get out of here" intensify autonomic arousal, disrupt planning, magnify the aversiveness of stimuli, prompt avoidance behavior and decrease self-efficacy expectancies concerning ones ability to control the situation ex-ppl with social phobia think "i'll sound stupid" which will make them refrain from speaking infront of others |
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Term
systematic desensitization |
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Definition
--a behavior therapy technique for overcoming phobias by means of exposure to progressively more fearful stimuli while remaining deeply relaxed -about 10-20 stimuli are arranged in a sequence or hierarchy called a fear-stimulus heirarchy |
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Term
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Definition
| an ordered series of increasingly fearful stimuli |
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Term
| virtual reality therapy (VRT) |
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Definition
-behavior therapy technique that use computergenerated simulated environments as therapeutic tools -a form of exposure therapy involving the presentation of phobic stimuli in a virtual reality environment -people can overcome fears in virtual reality in much the same way they would have if they followed a program of gradual exposure in real-life situations -frequent use for fear of heights or flying -for this to work the person must believe that at some level it is real, they must be immersed in the situation |
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Term
| cognitive therapy for phobias |
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Definition
-seek to identify and correct dysfunctional or distorted beliefs -helps to identify the logical flaws in their thinking and to view situations rationally -clients may be asked to gather things to support their irrational beliefs to see that there is no reality supporting them - |
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Term
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Definition
-a cognitive therapy method that involes replacing irrational thoughts with rational alternatives -a method in which therapists help clients pinpoint self-defeating thoughts and generate rational alternatives they can use to cope with anxiety-provoking situations |
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Term
| cognitive-behavioral therapy(CBT) for phobias |
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Definition
| -general term used to apply to therapeutic approaches that combine behavioral techniques, such as exposure, with techniques drawn from the cognitive therapies |
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Term
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Definition
-antidepressant drugs have been used to social phobias -usually best if combined with another type of treatment approach rather than alone -studies show that drugs that work on the receptors of the amygdala lower symptoms with presentation of the feared stimuli |
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Term
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Definition
| -the effort to prevent the compulsive behavior from occuring following the forced obsessive thoughts |
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Term
| exposure with response prevention |
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Definition
-ppl with OCD learn to tolerate the anxiety triggered by their obsessive thoughts while they are precented from performing their compulsive rituals -again, extinction can occur - |
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Term
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Definition
-generalized anxiety disorder, characterized by persistent feelings of anxiety that are not triggered by any specific object, situation or activity -worry, life long worriers -tend to worry more about daily, small events rather then LT important ones -interferes significantly with persons daily life -restlessness, feeling tense, easily fatigued, diffculty concentrating, irritability, muscle tension, disturbed sleep (trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, unsatisfying sleep) |
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