PSY BEH 102C Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Panic Disorder, Cognitive Therapy
3 Jul 2019
School
Department
Course
Professor
● Panic disorder
○ Experience of unexpected panic attacks (i.e., false alarm)
○ Develop anxiety, worry, fear about another attack
○ Many develop agoraphobia
○ Agoraphobia - fear of being in places where it’s difficult to escape or get help in
event of unpleasant physical symptoms
○ Panic and agoraphobia often occur together
○ Coupled together in previous editions of DSM
○ May occur independently, but often do occur together
○ Affects 2.7% of population
○ Onset is often acute, median onset between 20-24 years
○ 66% with agoraphobia are female
○ Panic attacks interpreted differently across cultures
○ Risk factors
■ Genrally higher emotional reactivity to stressors
■ Higher likelihood of having physical alarm reaction
○ Treatment
■ Panic control treatment
● Example of CBT for panic
● Cognitive therapy combined with purposefully triggering panic
sensations to build tolerance
■ Medication treatment
● SSRIs or benzos
● Relapse rate high following medication discontinuation
● Reinforcing fear, relying on medication creates cycle
■ Psychological and combined treatments
● Cognitive-behavioral therapies highly effective
● No evidence that combined treatment produces better outcome
● Best long term outcome is with cognitive behavioral therapy alone
● Phobias
○ Extreme irrational fear of specific object or situation
○ Persons will go to great lengths to avoid phobic objects
○ Most recognize that fear and avoidance unreasonable
○ Interferes with ability to function
○ Females more likely to be diagnosed, men may be socialized to not show fear
○ Affects 12% of population
○ Tend to run chronic course
○ Common specific phobias
■ Animals
■ Natural environment (e.g. heights, storms)
