psychological assessment program

• The test-retest reliability coefficient is calculated by correlating the scores obtained on two administrations of the same test.
• Stress is the internal biological and psychological responses to demands placed on an individual.
• Anxiety is a general feeling of apprehension about possible danger, oriented to the future and diffuse, and is an emotion.
• Anxiety has three other components: cognitive (worry chain about car crash), physiological (tense shoulders), and behavioural (reassurance).
• Fear or panic is an emotion that involves activation of the “fight-or-flight” response in the sympathetic nervous system, more oriented to imminent danger in the here and now, and has different components: cognitive (“I’m going to die”), physiological (increased heart rate), and behavioural (urge to flee/get help).
• Anxiety disorders share commonalities such as unrealistic, irrational fears, anxiety/panic of disabling intensity, avoidance, escape, thought suppression efforts, or safety behaviours, and are treatable with exposure, cognitive restructuring, and medications.
• Differences exist between anxiety disorders in terms of duration and type of anxiety or panic symptoms and source of the fear.
• Anxiety is a normal human response to objects, situations or events that are threatening, different from fear due to its cognitive component (i.e. fear of the future), and can be helpful and adaptive (e.g. anxiety about giving lectures).
• The anxiety condition usually develops first, and is considered a risk factor for later depression.
• Selective mutism (SM) is an anxiety disorder that prevents children speaking in certain social situations, such as school lessons or in public.
• In more severe cases and with kids who don’t respond well to CBT or other psychotherapeutic approaches, a course of medication may be indicated.
• There is a strong correlation between separation anxiety in children and a diagnosis of panic disorder later in life, and between separation and social anxiety disorders.
• Children with SM often have other fears and social anxieties and may have additional speech and language difficulties.
• Many kids with one anxiety disorder also have another, and they are more likely than average to be depressed, too.
• The first-line medication for separation anxiety is one of the SSRIs, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor family.
• A child might have a hard time saying goodbye to parents, being alone on one floor of the house, or going to sleep in a darkened room, because she is terrified that something will happen to her or her family.
• The first-line treatment for the majority of separation anxiety cases is psychotherapy; cognitive behavioral therapy in particular is used with great success on mild to moderate cases.
• Typical anxiolytics, or anti-anxiety medications, like the benzodiazepines are also effective, though they can be habit forming.
• Anxiety becomes a disorder when out of proportion or when it significantly interferes with life.
• Medications are also an option for the treatment of Social Anxiety Disorder.
• Jeff is a likable guy who is popular with his boss due to his hard work and lack of office politics.
• Social phobias generally involve learned behaviors, such as being bullied or observing isolated parents, and are most likely to occur in people who are genetically or temperamentally at risk.
• Negative cognitions and schema are also a risk factor in the development of social phobias.
• Jeff's boss can't understand why Jeff turns down opportunities for advancement, but he figures that Jeff must be happy to stay just where he is.
• Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy is the treatment of choice for Social Anxiety Disorder.
• Social Anxiety Disorder is characterized by marked and persistent fear of one or more social or performance situations, concern about behaving in a way that will lead to being judged, scrutinized, embarrassed, or humiliated, and exposure to situations that invariably leads to increased anxiety, a panic attack, or efforts to escape or avoid.
• Jeff's anxiety is so severe that he can't think straight and often can't even talk properly because his heart is pounding so hard he can't hear his own voice.
• Panic Disorder consists of a pattern of recurring panic attacks, with the main fear being of losing control, which can lead to agoraphobia.
• The reason for Jeff's reluctance to advance is that all of those things cause him to feel intensely anxious.
• Perceptions of uncontrollability and/or unpredictability may be important factors in the development of social phobias.
• Anxious anticipation, anxiety, or avoidance of social situations leads to significant distress or impairment.
• Anxiety disorders are highly treatable yet also resistant to extinction, often begins early in life, reported more by women than men, and often comorbid both with other anxiety diagnoses and with other disorder groups such as Mood disorders and psychoses.
• The brain involves in fear response includes the thalamus, amygdala, hypothalamus, which then instruct the endocrine glands and autonomic nervous system.
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder is modestly heritable (15 - 20%), often co-occurs with neuroticism, is a shared underlying personality trait with depression, and is associated with deficiency in Gamma Aminobutyric Acid (GABA).
• Negative outcomes of worry include catastrophic predictions, engaging in worry, attempts to suppress worry or distract, and worrying about worry.
• Anxiety Disorder Psychological Causal Factors include CBT Models of GAD, uncontrollable/unpredictable events, lack of safety signals, intolerance of uncertainty, attentional bias toward threatening information, biased interpretation of ambiguous information, and superstitious avoidance of catastrophe.
• Positive beliefs about worry (Borkovec) and preparation for negative event/outcome will result in increased coping when it occurs are psychological causal factors in Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
• Anti-depressant Medications such as SSRIs (Cipralex, Celexa) and SNRIs (Effexor) are used to treat Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
• Treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder includes medication (SSRIs used more for GAD than other anxiety disorders), psychoanalysis, behavioral techniques, and cognitive therapy.
• Buspirone is a more recent medication used to treat Generalized Anxiety Disorder, less addictive or sedating, but takes several weeks to be effective.