PSYCHOLOGY: anxiety disorders

THIS HAS GIVEN ME AN ANXIETY DISORDER.

anxiety disorder

anxiety disorder

a pattern of frequent and excessive worry and apprehension about a perceived threat (which is often minor/non-existent) in the environment that interferes with daily life

symptoms of anxiety disorders

dizziness, sweating, muscle tension

GAD (generalized anxiety disorder)

a general and persistent apprehension in any environmental circumstances, usually in uncomfortable environments

agoraphobia

a fear of public places, characterized by a fear and avoidance of public situations, and unproportional anxiety

blood-injection

a fear of places associated with blood and or situations where seeing blood are high, but also a fear of needles and procedures involving blood

explanations for anxiety disorders

biomedical (öst), behavioral (watson), and psychoanalytic (freud)

biomedical/genetic model (öst 1992)

For blood and injection phobias

classical conditioning

a type of learning that occurs when an individual learns to produce an involuntary emotional or physiological response similar to an instinctive or reflexive response

neutral stimulus

a stimulus similar to an instinctive or reflexive response

unconditioned stimulus

a stimulus like a bell that in itself does not elicit a response

unconditional response

the unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditional stimulus

conditioned stimulus

through repeated pairing and association, the NS + UCS now elicits the response

conditioned response

the learned response to a previously neutral stimulus

little albert study

believed that we naturally acquire phobias and used classical conditioning to instill the fear of a white rat in 11-month-old albert

psychodynamic model (freud)

based on freud’s ideas of ego, superego, and the unconscious model. Under this model, phobias represent defense mechanisms against anxiety that stems from the impulses of the id

little hans

a case study completed by freud on ‘hans’, who has a fear of horses. freud says its because the horse represents the dad (BIG DICK!!!) and hans is subconsciously competing with him for his mother.

biomedical/genetic model for blood injection (öst)

investigated 2 groups of patients, consisting of hemophobes and injection phobic p’s. they went through screening interviews, self-report questionnaires, and a behavioral test. results showed that about 50% hemophobes and 27% injection-phobes had a parent with the same issue

there is a strong genetic link for blood and injection phobia

treatment and management of anxiety disorders

wolpe (1958), öst, (1989), chapman - CBT (2013)

systematic desensitization (wolpe)

wolpe believed that if phobias could be learned (as shown in the watson study for little albert) they could be unlearned. systematic desensitization focuses on behavioral techniques to unlearn a process.

reciprocal inhibition (wolpe)

you cannot have two strong, opposite feelings simultaneously

the key to unlearning this phobic reaction is to put the feelings of the stimulus in conflict with feelings of relaxation and calmness, uses a therapist, and the goal is to promote the relaxation response

systematic desensitization steps

1. relaxation techniques are taught

2. anxiety hierarchy is created

3. at each stage of the hierarchy, the therapist will decide whether to use in vitro or in vivo to tackle each stage

applied tension (öst)

this is used for people with blood and injury phobias. p’s repeatedly contract muscles to help decrease the fainting response, and learn to tense their chest, arms, and legs until they have a feeling of warmth rise to their face. 73% of participants showed an improvement in their responses to blood in a quicker fashion than other treatments.

CBT (öst)

combination of changing the way one thinks and to change one’s behaviors. therapists will challenge one’s irrational and faulty thoughts and the behaviors that are not helping

38 p’s with a diagnosed panic disorder, cbt was favorable

CBT (Chapman and Delapp)

a case study of a 42 year old white male, T, with a diagnosed blood injection injury phobia. They were unable to receive medical care because of severe panic attacks, so he was suffering from a high blood pressure.

he was treated with psychoeducation, exposure therapy, applied tension, and objective recordings. The treatment was successful, and after 9 sessions his self-efficacy increased.