PSY 3171 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, Autonomic Nervous System
24 Jan 2020
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Chapter 5
ā¢ Three distinctive components of emotion:
- Physiological involves changes in the autonomic nervous system that result in
respiratory,
cardiovascular and muscular changes in the body.
- Cognitive includes alterations in consciousness (attention levels) and
specific thoughts a person may
have while experiencing a particular emotion.
- Behavioural responses tend to be consequences of certain emotions.
ā¢ Anxiety is an affective state whereby an individual feels threatened by the
potential occurrence of a
future negative event.
ā¢ Fear is a more primitive emotion and occurs in response to a real or perceived
current threat. The
behavioural response to fear is fight or flight.
ā¢ Panic is a form of extreme fear that is triggered even though there is nothing to
be afraid of.
ā¢ Until 1980, anxiety disorders were classified together with dissociative
disorders under neurosis.
ā¢ Freud theorized that anxiety occurred because defence mechanisms failed to
repress painful memories,
impulses or thoughts.
ā¢ Etiology of anxiety disorders:
- Biological factors; there is evidence of genetic influence on anxiety
disorders. Individuals who have
a family member who is diagnosed with an anxiety disorder are 4-6 times more
likely to have an
anxiety disorder. The role of brain systems including the amygdala (processes
stress), HPA axis
(dysregulation) and neuro-chemicals such as GABA (most pervasive inhibitory
neurotransmitter)
are important in the assortment of general cognitive, affective and
behavioural functions.
- Psychological factors; it is argued, from a behavioural perspective, that
anxiety and fear can be
learned (classical conditioning & two factor theory) whereby fears develop
through the process of
Psychopathology 10
classical conditioning and are maintained through operant conditioning.
Avoidance can be effective
in reducing anxiety in the short term but can serve to increase anxiety in
the long term. Vicarious
learning is another way to acquire fears by observing the reactions of
other people. There is also
some evidence however, that we are biologically prepared to fear certain
types of stimuli. From a
cognitive perspective, fear may be attributable to the biased perceptions
people have about the
world, the future and of themselves. Anxious individuals tend to focus on
information that is
relevant to their fears. Schemas, information processing and automatic
thoughts are believed to be
relevant to the development and maintenance of anxiety.
- Interpersonal factors; parenting styles may foster the same anxious feelings
in their children.
Attachment theorists believe that early parent-child interactions can lead
to the development of
general belief systems for how relationships operate in general. Anxious-
ambivalent attachment
style in infancy predicted anxiety problems in teens.
- Barlow called an interaction of all three factors ātriple vulnerability.ā
ā¢ Thereās a higher likelihood of women developing anxiety disorders; hormonal
fluctuations, genetic
vulnerability to stressful life events, increased likelihood of sexual abuse in
childhood.
ā¢ Individuals with panic disorder experience recurrent and unexpected panic
attacks. During a panic
attack an individual gets a sudden rush of intense fear or discomfort and
experiences a number of
physiological and psychological symptoms. Panic disorder is characterized by
the worry of having
additional panic attacks. Genetic diathesis. Gene polymorphism (increases
susceptibility). GABA
neutrons (problems with GABA signalling, fewer GABA receptor binding sites in
people with panic
disorder).
ā¢ Agoraphobia pertains to anxiety about being in places or situations where an
individual might find it
difficult to escape. Panic disorder and agoraphobia are highly comorbid. When
avoidance (to reduce
anxiety) is persistent and pervasive then agoraphobia is normally diagnosed.
ā¢ Panic disorder and agoraphobia are often comorbid with depression, substance
abuse problems and
other anxiety conditions. They are diagnosed through a multi method assessment
including a clinical
interview, behavioural measurement, psychophysiological tests and self report
indices.
ā¢ Behavioural avoidance test asks patients to enter situations that they would
typically avoid. They
provide a rating of their degree of anticipatory anxiety and the actual level
of anxiety that they
experience.
ā¢ Psychophysiological assessment strategies can include the monitoring of heart
Document Summary
Chapter 5: three distinctive components of emotion: Physiological involves changes in the autonomic nervous system that result in respiratory, cardiovascular and muscular changes in the body. Cognitive includes alterations in consciousness (attention levels) and specific thoughts a person may have while experiencing a particular emotion. Biological factors; there is evidence of genetic influence on anxiety disorders. Individuals who have a family member who is diagnosed with an anxiety disorder are 4-6 times more likely to have an anxiety disorder. The role of brain systems including the amygdala (processes stress), hpa axis (dysregulation) and neuro-chemicals such as gaba (most pervasive inhibitory neurotransmitter) are important in the assortment of general cognitive, affective and behavioural functions. Psychological factors; it is argued, from a behavioural perspective, that anxiety and fear can be learned (classical conditioning & two factor theory) whereby fears develop through the process of. Psychopathology 10 classical conditioning and are maintained through operant conditioning.
