CH. 5: Anxiety, Trauma - and Stressor-Related, and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders

How does treatment with benzodiazepines compare to psychological treatment for generalized anxiety disorder?

Drugs and psychological treatment are equally effective in the short term, but psychological treatment is more effective in the long term

Which of the following is related to panic disorder among Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, and African Americans in the United States, even after demographic characteristics have been accounted for?

Experiencing discrimination

One of the key features listed below relates to experiences of trauma that might cause post-traumatic stress disorder. Indicate which features are clearly present in Carmen's case

Experiencing repeated or extreme exposure to aversive details of the traumatic event

What is the most effective treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder?

Exposure and ritual prevention

Suppose Dickinson were being treated today and that her therapist, with whom she meets online, instructed her to visualize leaving her house, and then to stand at the open door looking out, and eventually to walk outside, however briefly. What type of therapy is being used?

Exposure-based treatment

Suppose Goldberg were to seek treatment for her fear of flying. Her therapist would teach her how to deeply relax her muscles and also ask her to create a hierarchy regarding her fear of flying, from least fear-inducing (for example, picking a friend up at the airport) to most fear-inducing (e.g., landing in a plane during a severe thunderstorm). The therapist would then pair the least fear-inducing experiencing, least fear-inducing stimulus (perhaps through the therapist describing it or even through a virtual reality experience) with relaxation until the individual is comfortable with it and then gradually works through the hierarchy. What type of therapy is being used?

Exposure-based treatment

Which of the following treatments is particularly effective in the treatment of specific phobias?

Exposure-based treatment

Agoraphobia may be diagnosed if a person is simply afraid to go outside

False

Most people exposed to a traumatic event will develop PTSD

False

Immediate emotional alarm reaction to present danger or life-threatening emergencies

Fear

Miesha is five years old and does not like getting shots because they hurt. When Miesha is at the doctor's and sees a hypodermic needle, they immediately become upset. What emotion is Miesha most likely experiencing?

Fear

What would you most likely experience in response to a roaring lion?

Fear

How is fear distinct from anxiety?

Fear is oriented toward the present, while anxiety is future oriented

Brain circuit in animals that when stimulated causes an alarm and escape response resembling human panic

Fight/Flight system

Sara, who served in combat with the army, has been diagnosed with PTSD. The most disturbing symptoms, from her point of view, are the recurrent nightmares she experiences. What kind of symptoms are the recurrent nightmares?

Intrusive symptoms

How do mental health professionals define panic disorder, which Renee is unlikely to have?

Repeated experiences of intense fear accompanied by physical symptoms that the individual fears will recur

Based on what he has shared in public, Shawn exemplifies which pattern of recovery from the trauma of Katrina?

Resilience

When Minerva's parents attended the parent-teacher conference held at the end of the second month her first-grade school year, they learned that their daughter never spoke in class. Her teacher noted that she did speak on the playground and in the lunchroom, but she was utterly silent in class and would not say a word even when called on. Minerva's parents were surprised since they knew their daughter to be quite verbal at home with family and friends. What diagnosis is most consistent with Minerva's behavior?

Selective mutism

Excessive enduring fear in some children that harm will come to them or their parents while they are apart

Separation Anxiety Disorder

People with panic disorder may be treated with medications that decrease reuptake of neurotransmitter?

Serotonin

One important consideration when trying to determine whether someone has a psychological disorder is the extent to which that person's life has been disrupted. Isabella's condition is either producing or has the potential to produce disruptive effects on several kinds of functioning. How has Isabella's condition affected her social functioning?

She and her fiancé split up due to her behavior

In the video, when Rosie experienced her first panic attack, what did she think happened?

She thought it was a life-threatening medical issue

Anxieties involving enclosed places (e.g., claustrophobia) or public transportation (e.g., fear of flying)

Situational phobias

Extreme, enduring, irrational fear and avoidance of social or performance situations

Social Anxiety Disorder

Which part of the limbic system sometimes called the emotional brain, seems to play an important role in anxiety and related disorders?

Amygdala

Rosie's experience of physical symptoms, dissociation, and emotional distress is most consistent with which of the following?

A panic attack

Which of the following may develop early in childhood and seems to be associated with increased risk of subsequent anxiety disorders?

A sense that some events are uncontrollable

Research suggests that individuals with specific phobias, like Goldberg's fear of flying, have which innate tendency?

A tendency to fear evolutionarily-relevant dangerous situations

What is the primary difference between acute stress disorder (ASD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)?

ASD is diagnosed within the first month after the traumatic event, while PTSD is diagnosed if the symptoms last or appear more than one month later

For someone to develop a disorder like PTSD, the event could be experienced which of the following ways?

All of these

An individual who is fearful of leaving their home alone, using public transportation, and being in crowds is displaying symptoms consistent with which disorder?

Agoraphobia

Anxiety about being in places or situations from which escape might be difficult

Agoraphobia

Unreasonable, enduring fear of living organisms that usually develops early in life

Animal phobia

State of mood characterized by marked negative affect and bodily symptoms of tension in which a person apprehensively anticipates future danger or misfortune

Anxiety

What would you most likely be experiencing if you were to be worrying about fighting a lion for a prize tomorrow?

Anxiety

Many young people who survived Katrina, including the two included here, did not discuss the storm with family or friends in its immediate aftermath, as though it were a forbidden topic. Which symptom cluster does this relate to?

Avoidance

After describing the traumatic events he'd experienced in the war and some of the recurrent problems he's experienced since those events, Darwin said, "I tried to forget all of this stuff." Which general type of PTSD symptom does Darwin's statement best represent?

Avoidance of stimuli associated with the traumatic events he experienced

Which of Carmen's symptoms best reflects the arousal category of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms?

Becoming anxious when she hears sirens on her way to class

Unreasonable fear and avoidance of exposure to blood, injury, or the possibility of an infection

Blood-injection-injury phobia

Which disorder used to be classified as a soma to form disorder because its central feature in a psychological preoccupation with somatic (physical) issues, but it is now grouped with obsessive-compulsive disorder because individuals experience both obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors?

Body dysmorphic disorder

About half of individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder experience both obsessions and compulsions, while the remainder experience one or the other. What does Beckham experience?

Both obsessions and compulsions

PTSD involves some experience of symptoms of "intrusion" related to the traumatic event. Which of the following best exemplifies intrusive symptoms that Darwin might be experiencing?

Darwin has been having nightmares about his experiences in the war

If Renee were to receive what is regarded as one of the most effective treatments for GAD, what treatment would she likely receive?

Cognitive-behavioral therapy

Which of the following experiences most clearly reflect Isabella's experience of compulsions?

Constantly checking her stove and other appliances multiple times per day

Anxiety disorder characterized by intense, uncontrollable, unfocused, chronic, and continuous worry that is distressing and unproductive accompanied by physical symptoms of tenseness, irritability, and restlessness

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Ongoing, excessive anxiety or worry that lasts at least six months and cannot be "turned off" is most closely associated with which disorder?

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Which of Dickinson's experiences is mentioned in the diagnostic criteria for agoraphobia?

Her marked fear of being outside her home

Studies of individuals with war-related PTSD, adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse, and firefighters exposed to extreme trauma have found damage in a brain structure that is associated with learning and memory. What brain structure was damaged?

Hippocampus

Jerome's condition has produced many changes in his behavior. One change in Jerome's life has been the amount of time he spends in his room. Based on his case history, why does he spend most of his time there?

His room is the only place where he feels safe from having an attack

If Renee were like other individuals with GAD, what sort of response might she show to threatening situations?

Intense frontal lobe activity

One important consideration when trying to determine whether someone has a psychological disorder is the extent to which their life has been disrupted. Jerome's condition is disrupting several kinds of functioning. What aspect of Jerome's social life seems to be disrupted by his condition?

Jerome is becoming increasingly isolated from friends and family

Extreme fear of situations or events in nature, especially heights, storms, and water

Natural environment phobia

Based on the full diagnostic criteria listed by the DSM-5 for anxiety disorders (not just the symptoms identified previously), Jerome appears to meet the criteria for a diagnosis of

Panic disorder and agoraphobia

Based on the full diagnostic criteria listed by the DSM-5 for obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (not just the symptoms identified previously), Isabella appears to meet the criteria for a diagnosis of

Obsessive-compulsive disorder

Sudden, overwhelming fright or terror

Panic

Recurrent unexpected panic attacks accompanied by concern about future attacks and/or a lifestyle change to avoid future attacks

Panic Disorder

Abrupt experience of intense fear or discomfort accompanied by physical symptoms such as dizziness or heart palpitations

Panic attack

Cognitive-behavioral treatment for panic attacks, involving gradual exposure to feared somatic sensations and modification of perceptions and attitudes about them

Panic control treatment

A psychologist would tell you that, unlike fear, panic involves which of the following?

Panic occurs in the absence of a "real" threat

What is the defining characteristic of generalized anxiety disorder?

Pathological worrying

According to the full diagnostic criteria listed by the DSM-5 for trauma and stressor-related disorders (not just the symptoms highlighted in the previous questions), Carmen appears to meet the criteria for a diagnosis of...

Post-traumatic stress disorder only

Effective treatment for PTSD most often involves which of the following?

Processing the original trauma and learning effective coping procedures

Johansson reports that she is able to talk herself out of experiencing a panic attack. The idea that she can reason her way through the intense physical sensations associated with panic into understanding that those responses do not correspond to the situation and that she is not in grave danger is most consistent with which perspective on panic disorder?

Psychological

According to research on treatment for PTSD, which of the following treatment approaches will probably produce the best benefits (i.e., reduction in symptoms) for Darwin?

Psychotherapy in which Darwin is encouraged to "face his fear" through intentionally remembering and talking about aspects of his traumatic experiences

Why does isolated sleep paralysis occur?

REM sleep is spilling over into the waking cycle

Some of the symptoms associated with various obsessive-compulsive and related disorders are summarized as follows. Indicate which symptoms are clearly present in Isabella's case

Recurrent thoughts or images that are intrusive and unwanted

One of the symptoms listed below is associated with post-traumatic stress disorder. Indicate which symptoms are clearly present in Carmen's case

Recurrent, involuntary, and intrusive distressing memories of the traumatic event

Disorders involving extreme and long-lasting focus on multiple physical symptoms for which no medical cause is evident

Somatic system disorders

An individual who experiences extreme and disproportionate fear about a particular object or situation that interferes with their functioning is displaying symptoms consistent with which disorder?

Specific phobia

Unreasonable fear of a particular object or situation that markedly interferes with daily life functioning

Specific phobia

A model of the causes of social phobia, like a model for specific phobia, might begin with generalized biological vulnerability and generalized psychological vulnerability. What unique third factor must exist, according to this model, for an individual to develop social anxiety disorder?

The belief that social evaluation can be dangerous

Why is it that a person experiencing a panic attack might mistakenly believe that they are having a heart attack?

The symptoms of a panic attack can include physical symptoms such as hear palpitations, shortness of breath, chest pain, and dizziness

If Beckham were like some people with obsessive-compulsive disorder, he might strongly associate certain ideas such as "I cannot make any errors in the game" with the actual behavior (making errors) itself, such that the idea becomes the equivalent of the behavior. What is this association called?

Thought-action fusion

Which pair of words best describes obsessions and compulsions?

Thoughts and actions

Some of the symptoms associated with various psychological disorders are summarized as follows. Indicate which symptoms are clearly present in Jerome's case

Thoughts of being outside the home provoke anxiety or fear