ab psych ch. 5

GAD diagnostic criteria

-Person experiences for 6 months or more •disproportionate, uncontrollable, and ongoing anxiety •worry about multiple matters -Significant distress or impairment -Symptoms include at least three of the following •edginess, fatigue, poor concentration, muscle tension, sleep problems, irritability

A person says, "I've been diagnosed with social anxiety disorder, and my therapist wants me to use drug therapy, not psychological therapy. I don't know which to choose." Based on current research, the BEST answer would be: A) "Some therapists think psychological therapy should always be used, even with drug therapy; there's less chance of relapse." B) "Drug therapy works especially well in combination with short-term psychodynamic therapy; cognitive-behavioral therapies don't help much." C) "That's the best advice your therapist could have given." D) "Unfortunately, no therapy works very well in the long run for most people with social anxiety disorder."

A) "Some therapists think psychological therapy should always be used, even with drug therapy; there's less chance of relapse."

An intense, persistent, and irrational fear that is accompanied by a compelling desire to avoid the object of the fear to the point of interfering with the life of the person is called: A) phobic disorder. B) obsessive-compulsive disorder. C) generalized anxiety disorder. D) panic disorder.

A) phobic disorder.

The biological understanding of generalized anxiety is supported by the finding that: A) relatives of people with generalized anxiety are more likely to have it than nonrelatives are. B) distant relatives of people with generalized anxiety are more likely to have it than close relatives are. C) identical twins have more similar environments than fraternal twins. D) relatives share not only biological characteristics but also similar environments.

A) relatives of people with generalized anxiety are more likely to have it than nonrelatives are.

A person with _____ experiences wide-ranging and persistent feelings of worry and anxiety. A) specific phobia B) generalized anxiety disorder C) obsessive-compulsive disorder D) social anxiety disorder

B) generalized anxiety disorder

The theoretical position that explains the origin of anxiety disorders as the overrun of defense mechanisms by neurotic or moral anxiety is the _____ approach. A) sociocultural B) psychodynamic C) humanistic D) cognitive-behavioral

B) psychodynamic

Which thought is consistent with the thinking of someone who has social anxiety disorder? A) "I'm not going out this weekend. I've had enough people interactions this week." B) "I don't want to give that presentation tomorrow. No one even listens during those meetings." C) "I'm glad I can use my notes during my speech. There's no way I could have remembered all of these details." D) "I can't go on that business lunch with my boss. I'd spill food on myself and look like an idiot."

D) "I can't go on that business lunch with my boss. I'd spill food on myself and look like an idiot."

A client has been experiencing uncontrolled anxiety. His symptoms include edginess, sleep changes, fatigue, and significant distress. To meet the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for generalized anxiety disorder, these symptoms must be present for _____ months or longer. A) 12 B) 1 C) 3 D) 6

D) 6

What is the biggest difference between those individuals with body dysmorphic disorder and those individuals who are unhappy with their appearance? A) People with body dysmorphic disorder would change something about their appearance if they could. B) People with body dysmorphic disorder must consider suicide to get a diagnosis. C) People with body dysmorphic disorder worry about their appearance. D) People with body dysmorphic disorder may severely limit their contact with other people.

D) People with body dysmorphic disorder may severely limit their contact with other people.

Dylan is suffering from arachnophobia. His therapist first has him go through relaxation training, and then has him construct a fear hierarchy. Finally, the therapist has Dylan go through a phase of graded pairings of spiders and relaxation responses. This approach is called: A) modeling. B) implosive therapy. C) flooding. D) systematic desensitization.

D) systematic desensitization.

Compared with men, women are _____ to develop generalized anxiety disorder. A) equally likely B) not at all likely C) about half as likely D) twice as likely

D) twice as likely

exposure and response prevention

a cognitive-behavioral technique used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder that exposes a client to anxiety-arousing thoughts or situations and then prevents the client from performing his or her compulsive acts -also called exposure and ritual prevention

rational-emotive therapy

a cognitive therapy developed by Albert Ellis that helps clients identify and change the irrational assumptions and thinking that help cause their psychological disorder

hoarding disorder

a disorder in which individuals feel compelled to save items and become very distressed if they try to discard them, resulting in an excessive accumulation of items

generalized anxiety disorder

a disorder marked by persistent and excessive feelings of anxiety and worry about numerous events and activities

obsession

a persistent thought, idea, impulse, or image that is experienced repeatedly, feels intrusive, and causes anxiety

neutralizing

a person's attempt to eliminate unwanted thoughts by thinking or behaving in ways that put matters right internally, making up for the unacceptable thoughts

biological challenge test

a procedure used to produce panic in participants or clients by having them exercise vigorously or perform some other potentially panic-inducing task in the presence of a researcher or therapist

compulsion

a repetitive and rigid behavior or mental act that a person feels driven to perform in order to prevent or reduce anxiety

family pedigree studies

a research design in which investigators determine how many and which relatives of a person with a disorder have the same disorder

specific phobia

a severe and persistent fear of a specific object or situation

social anxiety disorder

a severe and persistent fear of social or performance situations in which embarrassment may occur

locus coeruleus

a small area of the brain that seems to be active in the regulation of emotions; many of its neurons use norepinephrine.

anxiety sensitivity

a tendency to focus on one's bodily sensations, assess them illogically, and interpret them as harmful

social skills training

a therapy approach that helps people learn or improve social skills and assertiveness through role playing and rehearsing of desirable behaviors

panic disorder

an anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable panic attacks

agoraphobia

anxiety disorder in which a person is afraid to be in public situations from which escape might be difficult or help unavailable if panic-like or embarrassing symptoms were to occur

exposure treatments

behavioral treatments in which persons are exposed to the objects or situations they dread

intolerance of uncertainty theory

certain individuals cannot tolerate the knowledge that negative events may occur, even if the possibility of occurrence is very small

avoidance theory

developed by researcher Thomas Borkovec, suggests that people with GAD have greater bodily arousal (higher heart rate, perspiration, respiration) than other people and that worrying actually serves to reduce this arousal, perhaps by distracting the individuals from their unpleasant physical feelings

metacognitive theory

developed by the researcher Adrian Wells suggests that people with generalized anxiety disorder implicitly hold both positive and negative beliefs about worrying

obsessive-compulsive disorder

disorder in which a person has recurrent obsessions, compulsions, or both

body dysmorphic disorder

disorder in which individuals become preoccupied with the belief that they have certain defects or flaws in their physical appearance. Such defects or flaws are imagined or greatly exaggerated

excoriation disorder

disorder in which people repeatedly pick at their skin, resulting in significant sores or wounds -also called skin-picking disorder.

trichotillomania

disorder in which people repeatedly pull out hair from their scalp, eyebrows, eyelashes, or other parts of the body -also called hair-pulling disorder

sedative-hypnotic drugs

drugs that calm people at lower doses and help them to fall asleep at higher doses

flooding

exposure treatment for phobias in which clients are exposed repeatedly and intensively to a feared object and made to see that it is actually harmless

systematic desensitization

exposure treatment that uses relaxation training and a fear hierarchy to help clients with phobias react calmly to the objects or situations they dread

brain circuits

networks of brain structures that work together, triggering each other into action

gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)

neurotransmitter whose low activity in the brain's fear circuit has been linked to anxiety

panic attacks

periodic, short bouts of panic that occur suddenly, reach a peak within minutes, and gradually pass

phobia

persistent and unreasonable fear of a particular object, activity, or situation

preparedness

predisposition to develop certain fears

fear

the central nervous system's physiological and emotional response to a serious threat to one's well-being

anxiety

the central nervous system's physiological and emotional response to a vague sense of threat or danger

basic irrational assumptions

the inaccurate and inappropriate beliefs held by people with various psychological problems, according to Albert Ellis

benzodiazepines

the most common group of antianxiety drugs, which includes Valium and Xanax.

compulsions: common themes

•Cleaning •Checking •Order or balance •Touching, verbalizing, and/or counting

obsessions: basic themes

•Dirt/contamination •Violence and aggression •Orderliness •Religion •Sexuality