Chapter 6: Panic, Anxiety, Obsessions, and Their Disorders

anxiety

a general feeling of apprehension about possible future danger

fear

an alarm reaction that occurs in response to immediate danger

panic attack

the fear response that occurs in the absense of any obvious external danger

anxiety disorders

unrealistic, irrational fears or anxieties that cause significant distress/impairments in functioning

phobia

persistent and disproportionate fear of some specific object or situation the presents little or no actual danger and yet leads to a great deal of avoidance of these feared situations

specific phobia

strong and persistent fear that’s triggered by the presence of a specific object or situation and leads to significant distress/impairment in a person’s ability to function

blood-injection-injury phobia

a unique physiological response when confronted with the sight of blood or injury that consists of an initial accelerated, followed by a dramatic drop in heart rate and blood pressure, and is often accompanied by nausea, dizziness, or fainting

vicarious conditioning

watching a phobic or nonphobic person behaving fearfully with their phobic object/situation can be distressing to the observer and can result in fear being transmitted through vicarious/observational classical conditioning

prepared learning

the idea that “prepared” fears are easily acquired or especially resistant to extinction

exposure therapy

controlled exposure to stimuli or situations that elicit phobic fear

D-cycloserine

a drug that enhances the effectiveness of exposure therapy for fear of heights in a virtual reality environment

social anxeity disorder (social phobia)

disabling fears of one or more specific social situation that involves fear of scrutiny and potential negative evaluation of others or acting in an embarrassing or humiliating manner

cognitive restructuing

involves a therapy attempting to help the client identify their underlying negative and automatic thought and working towards changing them through logical reanalysis

panic disorder

the occurrence of recurrent and unexpected panic attacks that also includes anticipatory anxiety

agoraphobia

anxiety about being in places or situations from which escape would be difficult or embarrassing, or in which immediate help would be unavailable if something bad happened

panic provocation procedures

biological challenge procecures such as infusions of sodium lactate, inhaling air with altered amounts of C02, that put stress on certain neurobiological systems to produce intense physical symptoms of arousal, thus producing a panic attack

interoceptive/exteroceptive conditioning

initial panic attacks become associated with initially neutral internal (interoceptive) and external (exteroceptive) cues, leading to anxiety becoming conditioned to these conditioned stimuli

anxiety sensitivity

a trait-like belief that certain bodily symptoms may have harmful consequences

interoceptive exposure

deliberate exposure to feared internal sensations.

generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

excessive, chronic, and unreasonable worrying about many different aspects of life, including minor events

obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

the occurrence of obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors performed in an attempt to neutralize such thoughts

obsessions

persistent and recurrent disturbing, inappropriate and uncontrollable intrusive thoughts, images, or impulses

compulsions

involve overt repetitive behaviors that are performed as lengthy rituals—they can also be covert mental rituals such as praying our counting, and often have rigid rules on how they should be performed).

thought-action fusion

the tendency to have an inflated sense of responsibility, which can be associated with beliefs that simply having a thought about doing something is morally equivalent to actually having done it or that thinking about the behavior increases the chances of actually doing it

exposure and response prevention

involves exposure to feared objects or situations followed by prevention of the ritual, enabling the person to see that the anxiety will subside naturally in time without the ritual

body dysmorphic disorder (BDD)

obsession with some perceived or imagined flaw or flaws in appearance to the point of firmly believing one is disfigured or ugly, clinically significant distress occurs, and social or occupational functioning is impaired

hoarding disorder

acquiring and failing to discard many possessions that seem useless or of very limited value, in part because of the emotional attachment they develop to their possessions

trichotillomania

a clinically significant disorder in which the primary symptom is the urge to pull out one’s hair from anywhere on the body, resulting in noticeable hair loss