PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY FINAL EXAM 251
QUESTIONS WITH VERIFIED ANSWERS 2025/2026
- Occurs in response to real-life stressors, and symptoms occur only in response to
these events
-Anxiolytics in the benzodiazepine are effective for relieving this type of anxiety -
CORRECT ANSWER Acute anxiety
- Symptoms of anxiety but with no real focus
- Present for much of the day, and persist for months or years
- Constant worry and continuously predict, anticipate, or imagine dreadful events
- Life is generally stressful, and even minor events provoke worry
- Being late for an appointment, not completing a task, or making a minor mistake
are all causes of worry
- Muscle tension and agitation lead to fatigue, poor concentration, irritability, and
sleep problems
- Most cases begin gradually in the teens or early adulthood and persist
throughout life - CORRECT ANSWER Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
- When a person experiences all the responses of a fear reaction without a
threatening stimulus
- Sudden intense fearfulness is accompanied by strong arousal of the sympathetic
ANS
- Pounding or chest pain, sweating, shortness of breath, faintness, choking, and
the fear of losing control
,- May occur in the response to a particular environmental cue OR
- Totally without warning in unexpected fashion OR
- In a situation where an attack occurred previously, this making it more likely to
occur again - CORRECT ANSWER Panic Attack
- Late 20's and may last for many years, with attacks occurring at different
frequencies and intensities over that time
- Person experiences both panic, and anxiety (called anticipatory anxiety) over the
possibility that he or she may have an attack in a place that is not safe - CORRECT
ANSWER Panic Disorder
Feeling of extreme worry over the possibility that a certain unpleasant event will
occur in a particular, often public situation - CORRECT ANSWER Anticipatory
Anxiety
- A fear of public places and subsequent avoidance of many common situations
- People with this often lead very limited lives because they never leave the safety
of their own home
- Can be in some panic disorders - CORRECT ANSWER Agoraphobia
- Involve fears that the individual recognizes as irrational
- May focus on specific objects or situations such as high places, closed-in spaces,
water, mice, or snakes, or they may relate to interpersonal situations such as
speaking in public
- Can affect daily existence and quality of life
-Significantly alters daily activities
,- What is fear can be due, in part, by culture
- Medication rarely needed - CORRECT ANSWER Phobias
- Common modern method treatment for phobias
- Behavior therapy that involves presenting the fear-inducing stimulus in gradual
increments, allowing the individual to maintain a relaxed state while confronting
the source of their fear - CORRECT ANSWER Behavioral Desensitization
- Fear of being around others because of individual is concerned that they might
do something embarrassing
- Restricts public speaking, attending parties, taking exams, and even eating in
public places
- Cognitive therapy that modifies negative thoughts such as the likelihood of
looking foolish, plus social skills training- frequently beneficial - CORRECT ANSWER
Social Phobia
- Experience nightmares and memories that may occur as sudden flashbacks of
the traumatic event
- Show increased physiological activity to reminders of the trauma, sleep
disturbances, avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma, and a numbing of
emotional responses for many years after the original stress
- Sudden outbursts of irritability that emotionally injure family and friends who
are making an effort to be supportive
- Feel detached from others and fail to experience a full range of emotions, which
leads to diminished interest in life activities
, - Probability of attempting suicide is significantly greater as well as substance
abuse, marital problems, depression, and feelings of guilt and anger - CORRECT
ANSWER PTSD
- Chronic psych problem that may require hospitalization, or psychosurgery, to
control symptoms
- Obsessions and compulsions
- Intense emotional distress but is often untreated because the individual is so
ashamed of the symptoms he recognizes as irrational, or bizarre
- Involves a high level of metabolic activity in the basal ganglia - CORRECT
ANSWER OCD
- Testing procedure that uses naturalistic behaviors to quantify anxiety
- Depends on the rodents' inherent tendency to avoid brightly lit areas while
preferring the darkened compartment
- Antianxiety drugs increase the amount of time spent in the lit side - CORRECT
ANSWER Light-Dark Crossing Test
- Naturalistic Task
- More fearful animals will spend less time investigating other animals in this -
CORRECT ANSWER Social Interaction Test
- Conflict procedure
- Reliably screens anxiety-reducing drugs while requiring little training of the
animals
- Used to measure anxiety in rodents
QUESTIONS WITH VERIFIED ANSWERS 2025/2026
- Occurs in response to real-life stressors, and symptoms occur only in response to
these events
-Anxiolytics in the benzodiazepine are effective for relieving this type of anxiety -
CORRECT ANSWER Acute anxiety
- Symptoms of anxiety but with no real focus
- Present for much of the day, and persist for months or years
- Constant worry and continuously predict, anticipate, or imagine dreadful events
- Life is generally stressful, and even minor events provoke worry
- Being late for an appointment, not completing a task, or making a minor mistake
are all causes of worry
- Muscle tension and agitation lead to fatigue, poor concentration, irritability, and
sleep problems
- Most cases begin gradually in the teens or early adulthood and persist
throughout life - CORRECT ANSWER Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
- When a person experiences all the responses of a fear reaction without a
threatening stimulus
- Sudden intense fearfulness is accompanied by strong arousal of the sympathetic
ANS
- Pounding or chest pain, sweating, shortness of breath, faintness, choking, and
the fear of losing control
,- May occur in the response to a particular environmental cue OR
- Totally without warning in unexpected fashion OR
- In a situation where an attack occurred previously, this making it more likely to
occur again - CORRECT ANSWER Panic Attack
- Late 20's and may last for many years, with attacks occurring at different
frequencies and intensities over that time
- Person experiences both panic, and anxiety (called anticipatory anxiety) over the
possibility that he or she may have an attack in a place that is not safe - CORRECT
ANSWER Panic Disorder
Feeling of extreme worry over the possibility that a certain unpleasant event will
occur in a particular, often public situation - CORRECT ANSWER Anticipatory
Anxiety
- A fear of public places and subsequent avoidance of many common situations
- People with this often lead very limited lives because they never leave the safety
of their own home
- Can be in some panic disorders - CORRECT ANSWER Agoraphobia
- Involve fears that the individual recognizes as irrational
- May focus on specific objects or situations such as high places, closed-in spaces,
water, mice, or snakes, or they may relate to interpersonal situations such as
speaking in public
- Can affect daily existence and quality of life
-Significantly alters daily activities
,- What is fear can be due, in part, by culture
- Medication rarely needed - CORRECT ANSWER Phobias
- Common modern method treatment for phobias
- Behavior therapy that involves presenting the fear-inducing stimulus in gradual
increments, allowing the individual to maintain a relaxed state while confronting
the source of their fear - CORRECT ANSWER Behavioral Desensitization
- Fear of being around others because of individual is concerned that they might
do something embarrassing
- Restricts public speaking, attending parties, taking exams, and even eating in
public places
- Cognitive therapy that modifies negative thoughts such as the likelihood of
looking foolish, plus social skills training- frequently beneficial - CORRECT ANSWER
Social Phobia
- Experience nightmares and memories that may occur as sudden flashbacks of
the traumatic event
- Show increased physiological activity to reminders of the trauma, sleep
disturbances, avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma, and a numbing of
emotional responses for many years after the original stress
- Sudden outbursts of irritability that emotionally injure family and friends who
are making an effort to be supportive
- Feel detached from others and fail to experience a full range of emotions, which
leads to diminished interest in life activities
, - Probability of attempting suicide is significantly greater as well as substance
abuse, marital problems, depression, and feelings of guilt and anger - CORRECT
ANSWER PTSD
- Chronic psych problem that may require hospitalization, or psychosurgery, to
control symptoms
- Obsessions and compulsions
- Intense emotional distress but is often untreated because the individual is so
ashamed of the symptoms he recognizes as irrational, or bizarre
- Involves a high level of metabolic activity in the basal ganglia - CORRECT
ANSWER OCD
- Testing procedure that uses naturalistic behaviors to quantify anxiety
- Depends on the rodents' inherent tendency to avoid brightly lit areas while
preferring the darkened compartment
- Antianxiety drugs increase the amount of time spent in the lit side - CORRECT
ANSWER Light-Dark Crossing Test
- Naturalistic Task
- More fearful animals will spend less time investigating other animals in this -
CORRECT ANSWER Social Interaction Test
- Conflict procedure
- Reliably screens anxiety-reducing drugs while requiring little training of the
animals
- Used to measure anxiety in rodents
