Exam 2 -Ch. 4-6

What is the difference between anxiety and fear?

Anxiety is future-oriented apprehension about possible threats, while fear is an alarm reaction to immediate danger.

What characterizes a panic attack?

An abrupt surge of intense fear or discomfort with physical and cognitive symptoms.

What is Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)?

GAD involves excessive, difficult-to-control worry across multiple areas of life, with associated features like restlessness and sleep disturbance.

What is anxiety sensitivity?

The fear that bodily sensations will have catastrophic consequences, such as misinterpreting a racing heart as a heart attack.

What is interoceptive conditioning?

When internal sensations become fear cues after being associated with panic.

What is agoraphobic avoidance?

Avoiding places where escape or help might seem difficult, influenced by safety and distance from home.

What distinguishes social anxiety disorder from ordinary shyness?

Persistent impairment due to fear of negative evaluation, embarrassment, or offending others.

What is the primary treatment approach for panic disorder?

Panic control treatment, which includes education, cognitive work, and exposure to feared sensations.

What is the difference between acute stress disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)?

Acute stress disorder occurs within 3 days to 1 month after trauma, while PTSD persists beyond 1 month.

Define obsession in the context of OCD.

Recurrent intrusive thoughts, urges, or images experienced as unwanted.

What is a compulsion in OCD?

A repetitive behavior or mental act used to reduce distress or prevent a feared event.

What is thought-action fusion?

The belief that having a thought increases the likelihood of an event occurring or is morally equivalent to acting on that thought.

What is exposure and response prevention?

A treatment that involves contact with feared cues while resisting compulsions to weaken the ritual cycle.

What are the symptoms of somatic symptom disorder?

Distressing symptoms accompanied by disproportionate thoughts, anxiety, or time and energy spent on health concerns.

What is illness anxiety disorder?

Preoccupation with having a serious illness despite the absence or mildness of symptoms.

What is the defining feature of dissociative disorders?

Disruption in the normal integration of consciousness, memory, identity, or perception.

What is reactive attachment disorder?

Emotionally withdrawn behavior with little seeking or responding to comfort, associated with extreme insufficient care.

What is the role of exposure in treating phobias?

Exposure promotes new learning through repeated, planned contact with the feared cue.

What is the significance of the GAS and HPA axis in health psychology?

They are involved in the body's stress response and can affect immunity and overall health.

What is the relationship between avoidance and anxiety in phobias?

Avoidance is negatively reinforced by immediate anxiety reduction and blocks corrective learning.

What is Taijin kyofusho?

A cultural condition emphasizing fear of offending others.

What is the importance of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in treating anxiety disorders?

CBT targets worry, predictions, uncertainty, and avoidance to help manage anxiety symptoms.

What is the role of medication in treating GAD?

Medication may be used alongside CBT to help manage symptoms of excessive worry.

What is the difference between major depression and persistent depression?

Major depression involves severe symptoms that interfere with daily functioning, while persistent depression is chronic but less severe.

What is the significance of coping strategies in health psychology?

Coping strategies can influence how individuals manage stress and its impact on health.

What is the impact of cultural factors on the expression of anxiety disorders?

Culture shapes the meaning and expression of anxiety, influencing how symptoms are perceived and treated.

What characterizes somatic symptom disorder?

Distressing symptoms plus disproportionate thoughts, anxiety, or time and energy; symptoms may or may not have a medical explanation.

How does illness anxiety disorder differ from somatic symptom disorder?

Illness anxiety disorder involves preoccupation with serious illness when symptoms are absent or mild, focusing on disease threat rather than severe current symptoms.

What are psychological factors affecting a medical condition?

Psychological or behavioral factors that worsen a diagnosed condition or interfere with care, while a medical condition is present.

What defines functional neurological symptom disorder?

Motor or sensory symptoms incompatible with recognized neurological disease; requires positive clinical evidence.

What is factitious disorder imposed on self?

Intentional falsification to without obvious external reward; differs from malingering, which has identifiable external incentives.

What is factitious disorder imposed on another?

A caregiver falsifies or induces illness in another person, which is considered abuse and requires protection of the victim.

What are common conversion symptoms?

Symptoms can include weakness, paralysis, movement, sensory issues, seizures, speech problems, or globus symptoms.

What is dissociation?

Dissociation disrupts the usual integration of consciousness, memory, identity, emotion, perception, body representation, motor control, or behavior.

What is depersonalization?

Detachment from the self, thoughts, feelings, sensations, or actions, feeling like an outside observer while reality testing remains intact.

What is derealization?

Unreality or detachment concerning surroundings, where the world seems dreamlike, artificial, or visually distorted.

What is dissociative amnesia?

Inability to recall important autobiographical information beyond ordinary forgetting; can be localized, selective, or generalized.

What is dissociative fugue?

Travel or wandering associated with identity or autobiographical amnesia, now specified within dissociative amnesia.

What defines dissociative identity disorder?

Presence of two or more personality states or possession experiences with discontinuity in self and agency.

What is the trauma model in dissociative disorders?

Proposes that severe repeated childhood trauma plus dissociative capacity is a pathway to dissociative disorders.

What are the core features of a major depressive episode?

Depressed mood or anhedonia plus associated symptoms for at least 2 weeks, causing clinically significant distress or impairment.

What distinguishes a manic episode?

Elevated, expansive, or irritable mood and increased energy for at least 1 week, or any duration if hospitalized, with marked impairment.

What is a hypomanic episode?

Same symptom pattern as a manic episode for at least 4 consecutive days, with clear change but no marked impairment.

What are mixed features in mood disorders?

Symptoms of the opposite mood pole occurring during an episode, which can increase distress and clinical risk.

What is major depressive disorder?

Characterized by a major depressive episode with no history of mania or hypomania.

What defines persistent depressive disorder?

Chronic depressed mood and symptoms lasting at least 2 years in adults or 1 year in youth; chronicity is central.

What is bipolar I disorder?

Defined by the presence of at least one manic episode; depression is common but not required.

What characterizes bipolar II disorder?

Involves hypomania plus major depression and no history of mania; depression may be severe.

What is cyclothymic disorder?

Chronic subthreshold hypomanic and depressive symptoms persisting without full episodes for much of the course.

What is disruptive mood dysregulation disorder?

Characterized by severe outbursts and persistent irritability in a child, without distinct manic episodes.

What is premenstrual dysphoric disorder?

Impairing symptoms that recur before menses and improve afterward, requiring a cyclical pattern confirmed prospectively.

What role does genetic vulnerability play in mood disorders?

Heritable risk is important, especially in bipolar conditions; genes change probability rather than dictate outcome.

How do neurotransmitter regulations affect mood disorders?

Serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine, and broader regulatory systems are implicated; simple chemical imbalance claims are inadequate.

What is the significance of sleep and circadian rhythm in mood disorders?

Sleep architecture and biological rhythms interact with mood; sleep loss can trigger mania in vulnerable individuals.

What is the learned helplessness theory?

Uncontrollable adversity leads to expectations that action will not matter, resulting in passivity and hopelessness.

What is the Beck model in mood disorders?

Negative schemas organize biased views of self, world, and future, maintaining depression through catastrophizing and overgeneralization.

What is the primary use of antidepressants?

To reduce depressive symptoms, while monitoring side effects, adherence, switching risk, and suicide-related changes.

What is the role of lithium and mood stabilizers in treatment?

Core pharmacological treatments for bipolar disorder, requiring monitoring and adherence.

What does cognitive therapy aim to do?

Tests automatic thoughts and schemas, often paired with behavioral activation and relapse prevention.

What is behavioral activation in mood disorder treatment?

Increases meaningful reinforcing activity and reduces withdrawal, with activities planned by function and values.

What is health psychology?

The study of behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and social influences on health.

What does psychoneuroimmunology study?

Interactions among psychology, nervous and endocrine systems, and immunity.

What is the general adaptation syndrome?

A historic model of response to prolonged demands, consisting of alarm, resistance, and exhaustion stages.

What is the role of the HPA axis in stress response?

The hypothalamus releases CRH, the pituitary releases ACTH, and the adrenal cortex releases cortisol, mobilizing energy.

What is allostatic load?

The cumulative burden of repeated adaptation that can affect cardiovascular, metabolic, immune, and neural functioning.

How does self-efficacy influence stress response?

Self-efficacy can buffer stress, while structural stressors also play a significant role.

What is the effect of stress on immunity?

Stress effects on immunity depend on duration, appraisal, sleep, health behavior, social support, and the immune outcome measured.

What is the difference between acute pain and chronic pain?

Acute pain usually follows injury and resolves with healing, while chronic pain persists beyond expected healing.

What does gate control theory propose?

That spinal and brain processes modulate pain signals.

What are endorphins and enkephalins?

Endogenous opioids that can inhibit pain transmission.

What distinguishes panic attack from panic disorder?

A panic attack is an event; panic disorder requires recurrent unexpected attacks plus concern or behavior change.

What is the relationship between obsessions and compulsions?

Obsessions are intrusive mental events; compulsions are acts used to reduce distress.

What is the significance of Type A behavior pattern?

Characterized by competition, urgency, and hostility, with hostility being a better predictor of risk.

What is the role of psychosocial care in chronic illness?

Psychosocial care can improve coping, distress, adherence, and quality of life but should not be presented as a cure.

What is the difference between conversion disorder and factitious disorder?

Conversion disorder is not intentional; factitious disorder includes intentional falsification without obvious external reward.

What is the impact of culture on health behavior assessment?

Culture matters when assessing fear, somatic symptoms, trance, grief, suicide risk, and health behavior.

What are the three pathways for acquiring a phobia?

Classical conditioning, vicarious learning, and verbal instruction.

What is the role of avoidance in panic disorders?

Avoidance gives short-term relief but maintains panic, phobias, OCD, illness anxiety, and chronic pain.

What is the definition of Type D behavior pattern?

Negative affectivity plus social inhibition, which is a correlate, not a deterministic diagnosis.

What is the significance of the term 'psychosomatic'?

It implies that psychological influences can affect every illness, not just some.

What is the role of biofeedback in pain management?

Biofeedback makes physiology visible or audible and can support pain management through various techniques.

What is the difference between acute stress and PTSD?

Acute stress occurs during the first month after trauma; PTSD persists beyond one month.

What is the importance of effective health behavior change strategies?

Effective prevention changes skills, cues, access, reinforcement, and norms rather than relying on information alone.

What is the definition of illness anxiety?

A preoccupation with having or acquiring a serious illness, often with minimal or no symptoms.

What is the role of structural support in HIV prevention?

Effective HIV prevention combines information with skills, testing, barrier methods, and structural support.

What is the main feature of illness anxiety disorder?

Disease preoccupation despite absent or mild symptoms.

What does conversion disorder involve?

Neurological-like symptoms incompatible with recognized disease.

What is factitious disorder?

Intentional symptom production to .

What is malingering?

Intentional production of symptoms for an external incentive.

What is a transition between identity states in dissociative identity disorder called?

A switch.

What is a source monitoring error?

Confusing where remembered information originated.

What distinguishes somatic symptom disorder from illness anxiety disorder?

Somatic symptom disorder involves actual symptoms, while illness anxiety disorder involves preoccupation without significant symptoms.

What are the motivations behind conversion disorder, factitious disorder, and malingering?

Conversion disorder is not intentional; factitious disorder seeks to , while malingering seeks external rewards.

What is Beck's triad?

Concerns self, world, and future.

What characterizes persistent depressive disorder?

Chronic subthreshold mood fluctuation.

What is a classic mood stabilizer for bipolar disorder?

Lithium.

What therapy addresses grief, role disputes, and role transitions?

Interpersonal therapy.

What differentiates major depression from persistent depression?

Major depression is more severe and lasts longer than persistent depression.

What are the key differences between mania and hypomania?

Mania is more severe, lasts longer, and often requires hospitalization, while hypomania is less severe and does not cause significant impairment.

Why is bipolar II not simply milder bipolar I?

Bipolar II includes episodes of major depression and hypomania, while bipolar I includes full manic episodes.