Anxiety disorders,

Obsessive-
Compulsive and
Related disorders, and
Trauma and Stressor-
related Disorders
Heidi Combs, MD
Assistant Professor
University of Washington/HMC
Paul Zarkowski
Assistant Professor

A
 Faculty Disclosure

Ihave no financial relationships to disclose

relating to the subject matter of this
presentation
 What we will review
 Epidemiology of anxiety and related disorders
 Comorbid psychiatric diagnoses
 Diagnostic criteria for anxiety and related
disorders
 Neuroimaging findings of anxiety disorders
 Quick questions to screen for anxiety disorders
 Treatment including psychotherapy and
psychopharmacology
 Objectives
 List the prevalence of anxiety and related
disorders
 Identify comorbid psychiatric diagnoses
 Perform a quick screen for anxiety and
related disorders
 Apply general pharmacologic approaches
to the treatment of anxiety disorders
General considerations for anxiety
disorders
 Often have an early onset- teens or early
twenties
 Show 2:1 female predominance
 Have a waxing and waning course over
lifetime
 Similar to major depression and chronic
diseases such as diabetes in functional
impairment and decreased quality of life
 Normal versus Pathologic Anxiety

 Normal anxiety is adaptive. It is an inborn

response to threat or to the absence of
people or objects that signify safety can
result in cognitive (worry) and somatic
(racing heart, sweating, shaking, freezing,
etc.) symptoms.
 Pathologic anxiety is anxiety that is
excessive, impairs function.
Focused Neuroanatomy Review
 Amygdala- involved with processing of
emotionally salient stimuli
 Medial prefrontal cortex (includes the
anterior cingulate cortex, the subcallosal
cortex and the medial frontal gyrus)-
involved in modulation of affect
 Hippocampus- involved in memory
encoding and retrieval
Primary versus Secondary Anxiety
Anxiety may be due to one of the primary
anxiety disorders OR secondary to
substance abuse (Substance-Induced
Anxiety Disorder), a medical condition
(Anxiety Disorder Due to a General
Medical Condition), another psychiatric
condition, or psychosocial stressors
(Adjustment Disorder with Anxiety)
The differential diagnosis of anxiety. Psychiatric and Medical disorders. Psychiatr Clin North
Am 1985 Mar;8(1):3-23
 Anxiety disorders
 Specific phobia  Anxiety Disorder due
 Social anxiety to a General Medical
disorder (SAD) Condition
 Panic disorder (PD)  Substance-Induced
 Agoraphobia Anxiety Disorder
 Generalized anxiety  Anxiety Disorder NOS
disorder (GAD)
 Comorbid diagnoses
 Once an anxiety disorder is diagnoses it is
critical to screen for other psychiatric
diagnoses since it is very common for
other diagnoses to be present and this can
impact both treatment and prognosis.

What characteristics of primary anxiety disorders predict subsequent major depressive

disorder. J Clin Psychiatry 2004 May;65(5):618-25
Epidemiology of anxiety disorders

Damsa C. et al. Current status of brain imaging in anxiety disorders.

Curr Opin Psychiatry 2009;22:96-110
 Genetic Epidemiology of
Anxiety Disorders
 There is significant familial aggregation for
PD, GAD, OCD and phobias
 Twin studies found heritability of 0.43 for
panic disorder and 0.32 for GAD.

Hetteman J. et al. A Review and Meta-Analysis of the Genetic Epidemiology of Anxiety

disorders. Am J Psychiatry 2001;158:1568-1575
Specific Phobia
 Specific Phobia
 Marked or persistent fear (>6 months) that is
excessive or unreasonable cued by the
presence or anticipation of a specific object or
situation
 Anxiety must be out of proportion to the actual danger
or situation
 It interferes significantly with the persons routine or
function
 Specific Phobia
 Epidemiology
 Up to 15% of general population
 Onset early in life
 Female:Male 2:1
 Etiology
 Learning, contextual conditioning
 Treatment
 Systematic desensitization
Social Anxiety Disorder
 Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD)
 Marked fear of one or more social or performance
situations in which the person is exposed to the possible
scrutiny of others and fears he will act in a way that will
be humiliating
 Exposure to the feared situation almost invariably
provokes anxiety
 Anxiety is out of proportion to the actual threat posed by
the situation
 The anxiety lasts more than 6 months
 The feared situation is avoided or endured with distress
 The avoidance, fear or distress significantly interferes
with their routine or function
 SAD epidemiology
 7% of general population
 Age of onset teens; more common in
women. Stein found half of SAD patients
had onset of sx by age 13 and 90% by age
23.
 Causes significant disability
 Increased depressive disorders

Incidence of social anxiety disorders and the consistent risk for secondary depression in the first
three decades of life. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2007 Mar(4):221-232
 What is going on in their
brains??
 Study of 16 SAD patients and 16 matched
controls undergoing fMRI scans while
reading stories that involved neutral social
events , unintentional social
transgressions (choking on food then
spitting it out in public) or intentional social
transgressions (disliking food and spitting
it out)

Blair K. Et al. Social Norm Processing in Adult Social Phobia: Atypical Increased Ventromedial Frontal cortex
Responsiveness to Unintentional (Embarassing) Transgressions. Am J Psychiatry 2010;167:1526-1532
 What is going on in their
brains??
 Both groups ↑ medial prefrontal cortex
activity in response to intentional relative
to unintentional transgression.
 SAD patients however showed a
significant response to the unintentional
transgression.
 SAD subjects also had significant increase
activity in the amygdala and insula
bilaterally.
Blair K. Et al. Social Norm Processing in Adult Soical Phobia: Atypical Increased Ventromedial Frontal cortex
Responsiveness to Unintentional (Embarrasing) Trasgressions. Am J Psychiatry 2010;167:1526-1532
 What is going on in their
brains??

Blair K. Et al. Social Norm Processing in Adult Soical Phobia: Atypical Increased Ventromedial Frontal cortex
Responsiveness to Unintentional (Embarrasing) Trasgressions. Am J Psychiatry 2010;167:1526-1532
 Functional imaging studies in
SAD
 Several studies have found hyperactivity
of the amygdala even with a weak form of
symptom provocation namely presentation
of human faces.
 Successful treatment with either CBT or
citalopram showed reduction in activation
of amygdala and hippocampus

Furmark T et al. Common changes in cerebral blood flow in patients with social phobia treated with
citalpram or cognitive behavior therapy. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2002; 59:425-433
 Social Anxiety Disorder treatment

 Social skills training, behavior therapy,

cognitive therapy
 Medication – SSRIs, SNRIs, MAOIs,
benzodiazepines, gabapentin
Panic Disorder
 Panic Disorder
 Recurrent unexpected panic attacks and
for a one month period or more of:
 Persistent worry about having additional
attacks
 Worry about the implications of the attacks
 Significant change in behavior because of the
attacks
 A Panic Attack is:
A discrete period of intense fear in which 4 of the following
Symptoms abruptly develop and peak within 10 minutes:

 Palpitations or rapid  Chills or heat

heart rate sensations
 Sweating  Paresthesias
 Trembling or  Feeling dizzy or faint
shaking  Derealization or
 Shortness of breath depersonalization
 Feeling of choking  Fear of losing
 Chest pain or control or going
discomfort crazy
 Nausea  Fear of dying
 Panic disorder epidemiology
 2-3% of general population; 5-10% of
primary care patients ---Onset in teens or
early 20’s
 Female:male 2-3:1
 Things to keep in mind

 A panic attack ≠ panic

disorder
 Panic disorder often
has a waxing and
waning course
 Panic Disorder Comorbidity
 50-60% have lifetime major depression
 One third have current depression
 20-25%have history substance
dependence
 Panic Disorder Etiology
 Drug/Alcohol
 Genetics
 Social learning
 Cognitive theories
 Neurobiology/condi-
tioned fear
 Psychosocial stessors
 Prior separation
anxiety
 Treatment
 See 70% or better treatment response
 Education, reassurance, elimination of
caffeine, alcohol, drugs, OTC stimulants
 Cognitive-behavioral therapy
 Medications – SSRIs, venlafaxine,
tricyclics, MAOIs, benzodiazepines,
valproate, gabapentin
Agoraphobia
 Agoraphobia
 Marked fear or anxiety for more than 6
months about two or more of the following
5 situations:
 Using public transportation
 Being in open spaces
 Being in enclosed spaces
 Standing in line or being in a crowd
 Being outside of the home alone
 Agoraphobia
 The individual fears or avoids these situations
because escape might be difficult or help might
not be available
 The agoraphobic situations almost always
provoke anxiety
 Anxiety is out of proportion to the actual threat
posed by the situation
 The agoraphobic situations are avoided or
endured with intense anxiety
 The avoidance, fear or anxiety significantly
interferes with their routine or function
 Prevalence
 2% of the population
 Females to males:2:1
 Mean onset is 17 years
 30% of persons with agoraphobia have
panic attacks or panic disorder
 Confers higher risk of other anxiety
disorders, depressive and substance-use
disorders
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
 Generalized Anxiety Disorder
 Excessive worry more days than not for at
least 6 months about a number of events
and they find it difficult to control the worry.
 3 or more of the following symptoms:
 Restlessness or feeling keyed up or on edge,
easily fatigued, difficulty concentrating,
irritability, muscle tension, sleep disturbance
 Causes significant distress or impairment
 Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Epidemiology

 4-7% of general
population
 Median onset=30
years but large range
 Female:Male 2:1
 GAD Comorbidity
 90% have at least one other lifetime Axis I
Disorder
 66% have another current Axis I disorder
 Worse prognosis over 5 years than panic
disorder
 GAD Treatment

 Medications including buspirone,

benzodiazepines, antidepressants (SSRIs,
venlafaxine, imipramine)
 Cognitive-behavioral therapy
 Obsessive-Compulsive and Related
Disorders
 Obsessive-
Compulsive Disorder
 Body Dysmorphic
Disorder
 Hoarding Disorder
 Trichotillomania
 Excoriation Disorder
 Prevalence of Obsessive-
Compulsive Related Disorders
 Body Dysmorphic Disorder-2.4%
 9-15% of dermatologic pts

 7% of cosmetic surgery pts

 10% of pts presenting for oral or maxillofacial

surgery!
 Hoarding Disorder- est. 2-6% F<M
 Trichotillomania 1-2% F:M 10:1!
 Excoriation Disorder 1.4% F>M
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
(OCD)
Obsessions or compulsions or both defined by:
 Obsessions defined by:
 recurrent and persistent thoughts, impulses or
images that are intrusive and unwanted that cause
marked anxiety or distress
 The person attempts to ignore or suppress such
thoughts, urges or images, or to neutralize them
with some other thought or action (i.e. compulsion)
 OCD continued
 Compulsions as defined by:
 Repetitive behaviors or mental acts that the
person feels driven to perform in response to
an obsession or according to rigidly applied
rules.
 The behaviors or acts are aimed at reducing
distress or preventing some dreaded situation
however these acts or behaviors are not
connected in a realistic way with what they
are designed to neutralize or prevent.
 OCD continued
 The obsessions or compulsions cause
marked distress, take > 1 hour/day or
cause clinically significant distress or
impairment in function
 Specify if:
 With good or fair insight- recognizes beliefs are
definitely or most likely not true
 With poor insight- thinks are probably true
 With absent insight- is completely convinced the
COCD beliefs are true
 Tic- related
 OCD Epidemiology
 2% of general
population
 Mean onset 19.5
years, 25% start by
age 14! Males have
earlier onset than
females
 Female: Male 1:1
 OCD Comorbidities
 >70% have lifetime dx  12% of persons with
of an anxiety disorder schizophrenia/
such as PD, SAD, schizoaffective
GAD, phobia disorder
 >60% have lifetime dx
of a mood disorder
MDD being the most
common
 Up to 30% have a
lifetime Tic disorder
 OCD Etiology
 Genetics
 Serotonergic
dysfunction
 Cortico-striato-
thalamo-cortical loop
 Autoimmune-
PANDAS
 Treatment
 40-60% treatment response
 Serotonergic antidepressants
 Behavior therapy
 Adjunctive antipsychotics, psychosurgery
 PANDAS – penicillin, plasmapharesis, IV
immunoglobulin
 Functional imaging studies
 Increased activity in the right caudate is
found in pts with OCD and Cognitive
behavior therapy reduces resting state
glucose metabolism or blood flow in the
right caudate in treatment responders.
 Similar results have been obtained with
pharmacotherapy

Baxter L. et al. Caudate glucose metabolic rate changes with both drug and behavioral therapy for
obessive-compulsive disorder. Arch Gen Psych 1992;49:681-689
Trauma- and Stressor-Related
Disorders

 Acute Stress Disorder

 Adjustment Disorders
 Posttraumatic Stress
Disorder
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
 Exposure to actual or threatened death,
serious or sexual violence in one or more
of the following ways:
 Direct experiencing of traumatic event(s)
 Witnessed in person the events as it occurred
to others
 Learning that the traumatic events occurred to
person close to them
 Experiencing repeated or extreme exposure
to aversive details of trauma
 PTSD continued
Presence of 1 or more
intrusive sx after the Persistent avoidance by 1
event or both:
 Recurrent, involuntary
and intrusive memories of  Avoidance of distressing
event memories, thoughts or
 Recurrent trauma-related
feelings of the event(s)
nightmares  Avoidance of external
 Dissociative reactions
reminders of that arouse
memories of event(s) e.g.
 Intense physiologic
people, places, activities
distress at cue exposure
 Marked physiological
reactivity at cue
exposure
Negative alterations in cognitions and mood
associated with the traumatic event(s) as
evidenced by 2 or more of the following:
 Inability to remember an important aspect of the
traumatic event(s)
 Persistent distorted cognitions about cause or
consequence of event that lead to blame of self or others
 Persistent negative emotional state
 Marked diminished interest
 Feeling detached from others
 Persistent inability to experience positive emotions
 Marked alterations in arousal
and reactivity with 2 or more of:
 Irritable
behavior and and angry outbursts
 Reckless or self-destructive behavior
 Hypervigilance
 Exaggerated startle response
 Problems with concentration
 Sleep disturbance
 Duration of disturbance is more than one
month AND causes significant impairment
in function
 Specifiers:
 With dissociative sx (derealization or
depersonalization)
 With delayed expression (don’t meet criteria
until >6 months after event)
 PTSD Epidemiology

 7-9% of general population

 60-80% of trauma victims
 30% of combat veterans
 50-80% of sexual assault victims
 Increased risk in women, younger people
 Risk increases with “dose” of trauma, lack
of social support, pre-existing psychiatric
disorder
 Comorbidities
 Depression
 Other anxiety disorders
 Substance use disorders
 Somatization
 Dissociative disorders
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Etiology
 Conditioned fear
 Genetic/familial vulnerability
 Stress-induced release
 Norepinephrine, CRF, Cortisol
 Autonomic arousal immediately after
trauma predicts PTSD
 PTSD Treatment
 Debriefing immediately following trauma is
NOT necessarily effective
 Cognitive-behavioral therapy, exposure
 Group therapy
 Medications – antidepressants, mood
stabilizers, beta-blockers, clonidine,
prazosin, gabapentin

Pharmacotherapy for post

traumatic stress disorder.
Cochrane Database Sys Rev
2006 Jan 25(1):CD002795
 Prazosin
 Start
at 1mg qhs X 3 nights then
increased by 1mg q 3 nights until
nightmares improve or patient develops
postural hypotension. Some patients can
gain benefit a 1mg and some need
>10mgs!
 Functional neuroimaging in
PTSD
 Increased amygdalar activation is seen in
PTSD pts compared to controls
 Hypoactivation of the medial prefrontal
cortex including the orbitofrontal cortex
and anterior cingulate cortex (area
implicated in affect regulation)

Francati V. et al. Functional Neuroimaging Studies in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder:Review of

Current methods and Findings. Depression and Anxiety 2007;24:202-218
 Studyfound treatment of PTSD with
paroxetine resulted in increased anterior
cingulate cortex function

Fani N. et al. Increased neural response to trauma scripts in posttraumatic stress disorder
following paroxetine treatment: A pilot study. Neurosci Letters 2011;491:196-201
 Acute Stress Disorder
 Similar exposure as in PTSD
 Presence of >9 of 5 categories of
intrusion, negative mood, dissociation,
avoidance, and arousal related to the
trauma.
 Duration of disturbance is 3 days to 1
month after trauma
 Causes significant impairment
 Screening questions
 How ever experienced a panic attack? (Panic)
 Do you consider yourself a worrier? (GAD)
 Have you ever had anything happen that still haunts
you? (PTSD)
 Do you get thoughts stuck in your head that really bother
you or need to do things over and over like washing your
hands, checking things or count? (OCD)
 When you are in a situation where people can observe
you do you feel nervous and worry that they will judge
you? (SAD)
Treatment
 General treatment approaches
 Pharmacotherapy
 Antidepresssants
 Anxiolytics
 Antipsychotics
 Mood stabilizers
 Psychotherapy- Cognitive Behavior
Therapy
 Crank up the serotonin
 Cornerstone of treatment for anxiety
disorders is increasing serotonin
 Any of the SSRIs or SNRIs can be used
 How to use them
 Start at ½ the usual dose used for
antidepressant benefit i.e citalopram at
10mg rather than the usual 20mg
 WARN THEM THEIR ANXIETY MAY GET
WORSE BEFORE IT GETS BETTER!!
 May need to use an anxiolytic while
initiating and titrating the antidepressant
 Other options
 Hydroxyzine- usually 50mg prn. Helpful for
some patients but has prominent
anticholinergic SEs
 Buspirone-For GAD- 60mg daily
 Propranolol-Effective for discrete social
phobia i.e. performance anxiety
 Atypical antipsychotics at low doses for
augmentation in difficult to treat OCD pts
 Anticonvulsants
 Valproic acid 500-750 mg bid (ending
dose)
 carbamazepine 200-600 mg bid (ending
dose)
 Gabapentin 900-2700 mg daily in 3
divided doses (ending dose)
 Atypical antipsychotics at low doses for
augmentation in difficult to treat OCD pts
 Mothers little helpers
 Benzodiazapines are very effective in reducing
anxiety sx however due to the risk of
dependence must use with caution
 Depending on the patient may either use on a
prn basis or scheduled
 DO NOT USE ALPRAZOLAM- talk about a
reinforcing drug!
 For patients with a history of addiction or active
drug/ETOH abuse or dependence
benzodiazepines are not an option
 Psychotherapy
 Please refer to psychotherapy lecture!
 Case 1
 42 cauc male with a 20 year history of
heroin addiction admitted due to SI with a
plan to overdose. For the past several
months he noted depressed mood,
anhedonia, irritability, poor concentration,
difficulty with sleep, guilt feelings,
hopelessness and on the day PTA SI with
a plan. He has a recent lapse of one day
on heroin and cocaine. What should we
do?
 Further history obtained
 Heendorsed worrying “All the time I am
awake” and experiences irritability, muscle
tension, fatigue and sleep disturbance
associated with the worry. He noted it has
been worse since he has become
depressed but at best he only spends 4
hours worrying a day, cannot control the
worry and feels it interferes with his
function. Now what should we do?
 List dx: Heroin dependence, MDD, GAD
 Treatment-Therapy- Chemical dependency and
Cognitive Behavior Therapy
 Meds- Started Citalopram at 10mg daily and
titrated to 20mg then 40mg due to prominent
depressive and anxiety sx. Tried hydroxyzine at
50-100mg prn anxiety but it was not helpful.
Started gabapentin at 100mg q 4 hours prn
anxiety and titrated to 600mg q 4 hours prn with
some reduction in anxiety. Also had to reduce
the citalopram to 30mg with good results.
 Case 2
 28yo Samoan woman referred for
depression. Pt had been started 3 weeks
ago on Fluoxetine at 20mg and Trazodone
at 150mg while in jail. She endorsed
depressed mood, anhedonia, guilt
feelings, poor sleep, reduced appetite,
poor concentration and hopelessness but
no SI. When asked if the Trazodone had
helped with sleep she stated no.
 Further history obtained
 When asked if she had ever experienced
any trauma she looked down and shook
her head yes. When asked how often she
had nightmares she stated ‘Every night
since I was 13.” At that age a 3 year saga
of sexual abuse began.
 In reviewing her history she endorsed sx
consistent with PTSD, chronic.
 Prazosin was started at 1mg qhs X 3
nights then increased by 1mg q 3 nights
and she followed up in one week. She was
up to 3mg and was now sleeping through
the night. Her mood was also significantly
better and she was hopeful. No further
increase was needed in the fluoxetine.
 Take home points
 Anxiety, Obsessive-Compulsive and Related,
and Trauma and Stressor-related disorders are
common, common, common!
 There are significant comorbid psychiatric
conditions associated with anxiety disorders!
 Screening questions can help identify or rule out
diagnoses
 There are many effective treatments including
psychotherapy and psychopharmacology
 There is a huge amount of suffering associated
with these disorders!