Clinical Psychology Midterm

panic attacks

short but intense periods during which one experiences many symptoms of anxiety such as: heart palpitations, trembling, shortness of breath, dizziness, intense dread, and the fear of dying

specifier

a standardized phrase added to a diagnosis to indicate specific features, severity, course, or pattern of a disorder

what percentage of people will develop panic disorder at some time? (usually between late adolescence and mid 30s)

3-5%

what is the heritability of panic disorder?

43-48%

Poor regulation in the ___ may cause panic attacks, which then stimulate the limbic system, lowering the threshold for the activation of diffuse and chronic anxiety

locus ceruleus

People who have panic attacks tend to engage in __

catastrophic thinking

anxiety sensitivity

The unfounded belief that bodily symptoms have harmful consequences

interceptive awareness

a heightened awareness of bodily cues (such as slight sensations of arousal or anxiety) that may signal a coming panic attack

interoceptive conditioning 

process by which symptoms of anxiety that have preceded panic attacks become the signals for new panic attacks

conditioned avoidance response

behavior that is reinforced because it allows individuals to avoid situations that cause anxiety

The most common biological treatment for panic disorder is __

medication affecting serotonin and norepinephrine systems

what is the most common anxiety disorder and the third most common mental health problem?

social anxiety disorder

True or false, CBT is just as effective as anti depressants for treating social anxiety disorder?

True

specific phobias

unreasonable or irrational fears of specific objects or situations

The DSM-5-TR groups specific phobias into what five categories?

animal type, natural environment type, situational type, blood-injection-injury type, and other

phobias are one of the __ common psychological disorders

most

what are the two most common fears and phobias?

heights and animals

__ are the most common objects of animal phobias

snakes and spiders

natural environment type phobias

extreme fears of events or situations in the natural environment that cause impairment in one’s ability to function normally.

These phobias are extremely common

e.g. storms, heights, water

situational type phobias

extreme fears of situations such as public transportation, tunnels, bridges, elevators, flying, driving, or enclosed spaces. 

blood-injection-injury type phobias

• extreme fears of seeing blood or an injury or of receiving an injection or another invasive medical procedure, which cause a drop in heart rate and blood pressure and fainting

• this phobia runs more strongly in families than others

Agoraphobia 

anxiety disorder characterized by fear of places and situations in which it would be difficult to escape, such as enclosed places, open spaces, and crowds

negative reinforcement

process in which people avoid being exposed to feared objects and their avoidance is reinforced by the subsequent reduction of their anxiety

prepared classical conditioning 

theory that evolution has prepared people to be easily conditioned to fear objects or situations that were dangerous in ancient times

what behavioral treatment is used for phobias?

exposure therapy

What are the three basic components of behavior therapy for phobias?

stematic desensitization, modeling, and flooding

What is the applied tension technique?

technique used to treat blood-injection-injury type phobias in which the therapist teaches the client to increase his or her blood pressure and heart rate, thus preventing the client from fainting

 __ is as effective as systematic desensitization in reducing phobias

Modeling

__ is as effective as systematic desensitization or modeling and often works more quickly

flooding

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

anxiety disorder characterized by obsessions (persistent thoughts) and compulsions (rituals)

obsessions are:

thoughts, images, ideas, or urges (e.g., to harm oneself) that are persistent, repetitive, intrusive, unwanted, and that usually cause significant anxiety or distress.

compulsions are:

repetitive behaviors or mental acts that an individual feels he or she must perform in an effort to reduce anxiety and distress

OCD is a multifactorial disorder with __ genetic predispositions

strong

exposure and response prevention

type of therapy in which individuals with anxiety symptoms are exposed repeatedly to the focus of their anxiety but prevented from avoiding it or engaging in compulsive responses to the anxiety