Anxiety and Mood Disorders Abnormal Psychology Exam Review 2026/2027

Anxiety and Mood Disorders Abnormal Psychology Exam Review 2026/2027

Panic Disorder - ANS-Experience recurrent, terrifying panic attacks that come without
warning
Builds to a peak in 10 to 15 minutes, but can last for hours
Initial one spontaneous, but recurrent ones become associated with cues
Marked by:
Intense heart palpitations
Pressure or pain in the chest
Dizziness or unsteadiness
Sweating
Feeling of faintness
Feels like a heart attack
Phobia - ANS-Fear that is disproportionate to threat
Only a disorder when it impairs functioning
Three distinct types of phobias
Specific Phobia
Social Phobia
Agoraphobia
Agoraphobia - ANS-Fear of places or situations where escape is not possible
More common in women
Onset in late adolescence or early adulthood
OCD - ANS-Different the Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder!
Persistent, upsetting, and unwanted thoughts (obsessions)
often center on the possibility of infection, contamination or doing harm to oneself
Obsessive thoughts may motivate ritualistic, repetitive behaviors (compulsions)
Performs to avoid some dreaded outcome or to reduce feeling of anxiety
Most are checking or cleaning behaviors
Intense, disturbing, and often bizarre intrusions that impair daily activities (taking up
more than one hour a day)
Equally common in males and females
Usually begins in adolescence or early adulthood, but may emerge as early as 4
PTSD - ANS-The person has been exposed to a traumatic event in which both of the
following were present:
The person experienced, witnessed, or was confronted with an event or events that
involved actual or threatened deaths or serious injury
The person's response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror