PSY 139 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Panic Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Cognitive Therapy

• School: Hofstra University
• Department: Psychology (PSY)
• Course: PSY 139
• Professor: Mark Serper

Document Summary

Twin studies suggest about 30% due to genetic factors. Occurrence of panic attacks seems to come out of the blue . Must be abrupt onset of 4 out of 13 symptoms. 83% of people with panic disorder have at least one comorbid disorder. There are also several areas of the brain implicated in panic attacks. Chronic or excessive worry about multiple events and activities. Occurs more days than not for 6 months period. Automatic attentional bias toward threatening information in environment. It is modestly heritable: 15-20% due to genetics. The neurotransmitters gaba, serotonin, and perhaps norepinephrine all play a role in anxiety (activated by stress) Occurrence of unwanted and intrusive obsessive or distressing images. Contamination fear fears of harming oneself or others. Prevalence, age of onset, and gender difference one year prevalence is 1. 2% Frequently co-occurs with other anxiety disorders and mood disorders. Mowrer developed the two-process theory of avoidance learning.