Transcript Models in Psychopathology

Anxiety
Disorders
The Experience of Anxiety








Worry
Fear
Apprehension
Intrusive thoughts
Physical symptoms
Tension
Experience comes more from individual than
situational factors
Sufferers often not clear as to origins of their
anxiety
Abnormal Psychology, 11/e
by Sarason & Sarason © 2005
DSM-IV Anxiety Disorders





Generalized anxiety disorder
Panic disorder
Phobias
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Abnormal Psychology, 11/e
by Sarason & Sarason © 2005
Prevalence of Anxiety Disorders
Abnormal Psychology, 11/e
by Sarason & Sarason © 2005
Models and Treatment
 Psychodynamic perspective
 Therapy aimed at gaining insight into unconscious roots of
threat, loss and abandonment
 Behavioral perspective
 Therapeutic interventions to change behavior include
modeling, exposure therapy (imaginal, in vivo and
interoceptive), management of safety behaviors,
systematic desensitization, implosive therapy
 Cognitive perspective
 Therapy aimed at changing maladaptive thoughts include
cognitive restructuring, thought stopping, and cognitive
rehearsal
 Biological perspective
 Genetic and environmental factors
 Anti-anxiety medications
Abnormal Psychology, 11/e
by Sarason & Sarason © 2005
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
 Vague, intense concerns and fearfulness
 Lasts at least six months
 Symptoms




Motor tension
Autonomic reactivity
Apprehension about future
Hypervigilance
 Duration
 Protracted, often 20 years or more
 Treatment
 Cognitive, psychodynamic, and behavioral therapy
 Anti-anxiety medication
Abnormal Psychology, 11/e
by Sarason & Sarason © 2005
Panic Disorder
 Recurrent unexpected panic attacks lasting from
seconds to hours and days
 Physiological arousal
 Shortness of breath, chest pains
 Trembling, sweating, dizziness
 Feelings of helplessness; imminent death
 Fear of recurrent attacks
 Biological, psychological, and psychosocial
factors play a role
 Cognitive-behavioral therapy is effective;
antidepressant medications are sometimes
effective
Abnormal Psychology, 11/e
by Sarason & Sarason © 2005
Symptoms of Panic Disorder and GAD
Abnormal Psychology, 11/e
by Sarason & Sarason © 2005
A Comparison of Panic Disorder and GAD





Clinical onset of panic disorder is later.
The role of heredity appears to be greater in
panic disorder.
The ratio of women to men is greater in
panic disorder.
Alcoholism is more common in people
suffering from panic disorder.
Depression is more common in panic
disorder.
Abnormal Psychology, 11/e
by Sarason & Sarason © 2005
Phobic Disorders
 Specific Phobias – Fears related to specific
objects, people, or situations
 Social Phobias – Intense, incapacitating fear
and embarrassment when dealing with others
 Agoraphobia – Fear of leaving home
 With panic attacks
 Without panic attacks
 Treatment for Phobic Disorders
 Exposure therapy is the treatment of choice in
phobias
 Agoraphobia with panic attacks sometimes treated
with antidepressant medication
Abnormal Psychology, 11/e
by Sarason & Sarason © 2005
Examples of Phobias
Type of Fear
Examples of Fears
Separation fears
Crowds, traveling alone, being at
home alone
Social fears
Eating with strangers, being
watched while writing or working
Animal fears
Mice, rats, insects,
Nature fears
Mountains, water, heights
Mutilation fears
Open wounds, surgery, blood
Abnormal Psychology, 11/e
by Sarason & Sarason © 2005
Cognitive Model of Social Phobia
Abnormal Psychology, 11/e
by Sarason & Sarason © 2005
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
 Preoccupation with specific ideas or thoughts
(obsessive) and unable to resist repeated
behaviors (compulsive)
 Obsessions
 Doubt, hesitation, fear of contamination, fear of
one’s own aggression, impulses, images
 Compulsions
 Counting, ordering, checking, touching, and washing
 Yielding and controlling
 Begins before adulthood, more common in
women
 Exposure and response prevention therapies
and serotonin-related drugs are helpful.
Abnormal Psychology, 11/e
by Sarason & Sarason © 2005
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
 Occurs after extreme, life threatening stress
 Natural disaster, serious accident, war-related
situations
 Symptoms
 Flashbacks, recurrent dreams, impaired
concentration, emotional numbing lasting more
than one month
 Treatment
 Insight psychotherapy
 Behavior therapy
 Medications
Abnormal Psychology, 11/e
by Sarason & Sarason © 2005