Question

Anxiety Related Disorders

Answer 1

Note: This is a reference for educational/studying purposes, not a question, please save all comments or questions for the end.

Answer 2

\({\bf{Generalized~Anxiety~Disorder}}\)

- persistent feelings of anxiety about many events/activities
- "free-floating anxiety"
- affects about 4% of the US population per year, 6% of all people develop it sometime in their life

- sociocultural factors: threatening societal conditions, poverty, discrimination

- psychodynamic factors: unresolved childhood anxiety/ inadequacies inadequate early relationships between child and parent
- realistic anxiety: actual danger
- neurotic anxiety: prevention from expressing id impulses
- moral anxiety: punishment for expressing id impulses
- humanistic factors: prevention/denial of true thoughts/cognition, lack of fulfillment as human being

- cognitive factors: maladaptive assumptions (basic irrational assumptions)
- metacognitive theory: people with GAD have positive and negative beliefs about worrying
- meta-worries: worrying about constant worrying
- intolerance of uncertainty theory: people cannot tolerate the idea that negative events can occur
- avoidance theory: worrying reduces bodily arousal

- biological factors: inability of GABA to bind to receptors
- benzodiazepenes can help activate the receptors for GABA
- brain circuits: pre-frontal cortex + anterior cingulate cortex + amygdala produce anxiety responses

Answer 3

\({\bf{Treatments}}\)

- short term psychodynamic therapy: addressing unresolved childhood issues
- client-centered therapy: showing empathy + unconditional positive regard
- rational-emotive therapy: changing maladaptive assumptions
- mindfulness based therapy: recognizing one's inclination to worry
- acceptance and commitment therapy: accepting negative thoughts as mere thoughts
- benzodiazepenes, sedative-hypnotic drugs, relaxation training
- biofeedback (ex. EMG) recording muscule tension

Answer 4

\({\bf{Phobias}}\) an unreasonable fear of an object or situation

- specific phobia: fear of a particular object or situation
- agoraphobia: fear of being in a public situation where escape/help is unavailable

Possible causes:

- classical conditioning
- stimulus generalization
- evolution

Treatments:

- exposure treatments: systematic desensitization, flooding, modeling

- systematic desensitization: relaxation training while gradually facing the situations/objects they fear often through fear hierarchy, can be in vivo or covert
- flooding: similar to systematic desensitization but no relaxation training, exposure s more intense
- modelling: the therapist confronts the feared object/situation while the patient observes

Answer 5

\({\bf{Social~Anxiety~Disorder}}\) persistent fear of social situations, esp. potential embarrassment

- ~ 7.4% of people in US have the disorder in a given year, 60% of them are female, more likely to be experienced by poor people
- caused by maladaptive assumptions about themselves/ high standards for their own behavior

treatments:
- antidepressants
- exposure therapy
- cognitive therapies: to change maladaptive assumptions
- social skills training/ assertiveness training

Answer 6

\({\bf{Panic~Disorder}}\)

- characterized by frequent panic attacks
- about 2.4% of US pop. per year
- higher in white Americans than minorities

possible factors:

- norepinephrine
- locus coeruleus: "on-off" switch for norepinephrine neurons
- brain circuit: amygdala, hippocampus, hypothalamus, central gray matter, locus coerulus
- genetics
- misinterpretation of physical events, anxiety sensitivity

- biological challenge tests: deliberately inducing a panic response in client to assess response

Answer 7

\({\bf{Obsesesive~Compulsive~Disorder}}\) [if you're one of those people who calls themselves "OCD" because you're kind of fussy about certain things then honestly you can leave right now]

obsessions: persistent thoughts/ideas
compulsions: repetitive behaviors/rituals that people feel like they must do to find relief
- usually begins in young adulthood
- about 3% of people develop the disorder, equally common in men and women, races, ethnic groups, 40% of those who suffer seek treatment
- most common obsession: dirt/contamination. others: violence, orderliness, religion, sexuality
- common compulsions: cleaning, counting, touching, verbal, control

Answer 8

\({\bf{Factors~of~OCD}}\)

- psychodynamic: conflict between anxiety provoking id and the anxiety reducing defense, related to Pickle stage of development (not strongly supported by research)
- conditioning (performing the behavior once leads to relief, conditioned to continue performing the behavior)
- compulsions are the result of trying to neutralize negative cognitions, need to have control over thoughts/behaviors
- low activity of serotonin
- abnormal functioning of the orbifrontal cortex + caudate nuclei

\({\bf{Treatments}}\)

- antidepressants
- exposure and response therapy
- traditional psychodynamic therapies (not empirically helpful)
- cognitive therapy: identifying and changing maladaptive thoughts/cognitions

Answer 9

\({\bf{OCD~Related~Disorders}}\)

hoarding
trichotillomania (hair-pulling)
excoriation (skin-picking)
body dysmorphic disorder: preoccupation with real or perceived flaws in physical appearance

Answer 10

Anyway, that's all for this topic, I hope it was of use to you! If you have any questions I will address them to the best of my ability (you may have better luck contacting me on my main account, Vocaloid)

Source: Fundamentals of Abnormal Psychology, Eighth Edition, Ronald J. Comer

Answer 11

How may evolution be a possible cause of phobias?

Answer 12

certain phobias, like phobias of animals/heights/the dark may have played a role in human evolution may have been passed down because it helped people instinctually avoid objects/situations that could be dangerous

good question

Answer 13

That is rather interesting, thank you c: