Compare and Contrast the Learning/Conditioning Theory with Cognitive Models of Panic Disorder - Essay Example

? "Compare and contrast the learning/conditioning theory with cognitive models of panic disorder" Introduction According to Clark (1986), panic disorder develops as a result of panic attack and could be defined as- "A panic attack consists of an intense feeling of apprehension or impending doom which is of sudden onset and which is associated with a wide range of distressing physical sensations. These sensations include breathlessness, palpitations, chest pain, choking, dizziness, tingling in the hands and feet, hot and cold flushes, sweating, faintness, trembling and feelings of unreality". Under normal circumstances, an individual is attentive as well as responsive towards any panic condition. Under the condition of panic disorder, such consciousness occurs without any reason and when the situation is not provoked, which is observed as a serious co-morbid illness (Roy-Byrne et al, 2006). When such panic attack is observed, the level of anxiety is high and the individual witnesses harmful psychological predicament. Panic disorder or PD does not occur alone but in combination with anxiety disorder encompassing PTSD and social fear and therefore PD is taken into consideration with cognitive behaviour therapy together with antidepressant therapy (Furukawa et al, 2006). Various theories have been proposed comprising biological theory, cognitive and psychoanalytic theories to understand the panic disorder. Learning theories involves changes in behaviour as learning is the most fundamental aspect of animal kingdom and learning behaviour enhances as one moves up the evolution. Learning behaviour is in accordance with the adaptation and ability to tackle the adverse situations. Learning involves two types of conditioning- classical conditioning and operant conditioning (Learning Theories). Classical conditioning involves learning by involvement. As established by Nobel Laureate Ivan Pavlov, who studied the salvation of dogs- a classical conditioning phenomenon. it is solely based on the reflexive behavior of the individual. On the other hand operant conditioning involves learning where a modification in person's behaviour is observed and hence individual modifies voluntary or operant behaviour (Poling, 1999). This is also termed as behaviour theory which states that behaviour of any individual is attained through habituation and training. In certain cases such as panic disorder repeated motivation to change the behaviour is required which may or may not be related to therapeutic issues. Psychology is an amalgamation of various aspects of many scientific and social disciplines encompassing biology, clinical aspects, cognitive aspects, any kind of comparative aspects, developmental aspects of an individual, or if it is related to the education or any kind of organizational working atmosphere and hierarchical motive, and it helps an individual to enhance the personality and thus the social predisposition. The psychology molded to eradicate trauma witnessed early in life, which is the source of anxiety development plays an imperative role in combating fright, anger fear of the PD patients. As displayed by some of the parents during the development years of their child and thereby paves the way for the development of PD in their children. It generates weak inter-personal relationship and the child finds difficult to cope with the panic situation which is responsible for the development of susceptibility and generates a room for thoughts towards treacherous situations (Shear et al, 1993). Cognitive Theories involve a deep insight to the internal state of mind. This is related to the motivation which is essential for persuasion of everyday tasks. It encompasses the ability to deal with the issues or problems that an individual encounters to meet everyday pursuits. The solution to the problem depends upon the logical and rationale thinking, the ability to reach to the conclusion, the ability to think in a constructive and innovative manner and how appropriate that decision is to make positive modifications. This is essential in to deal with the panic disorder where the cognitive ability is imperative in preventing illogical or irrelevant venture made by the individual suffering with panic disorder. According to Clark (1986), "A wide range of stimuli appear to provoke attacks. These stimuli can be external (such as a supermarket for an agoraphobic who has previously had an attack in a supermarket) but more often are internal (body sensation, thought or image). If these stimuli are perceived as a threat, a state of mild apprehension results. This state is accompanied by a wide range of body sensations. If these anxiety produced sensations are interpreted in a catastrophic fashion, a further increase in apprehension occurs. This produces a further increase in body sensations and so on round in a vicious circle which culminates in a panic attack". According to Barlow, (1999), panic is emotional fear, a kind of reaction to perceived imminent danger it is a catastrophical situation which can be explained with the three degrees involving, true alarms where the danger is present and a panic is obvious, false alarms (interoceptive conditioning) when there is no sign of danger but the person perceives danger, as in the case of panic attack while the learned alarms are the result of conditional reflexes. Observations reveal that if the person is suffering with psychological trauma then an emotional turmoil could be observed because of inability to face the competition. If psychological vulnerability is clubbed with biological susceptibility then panic attack further aggravates. Conclusion PD is a result of trigger incited either by the internal factors or by the environment, also patient does not involve in traumatic imaginations or with PD consciously (Brewin et al, 1996). Appropriate planning is desired together with the understanding of these theories to cope with the PD cases. It is evident that appropriate amalgamation of cognitive theory with behavior theory could bring desirable results. PD cases must be handled with patience and cool temperament any harsh attitude may deteriorate the situation. The source of the trauma must be known to the psychotherapist or the physician in order to understand the case history to the wider extent. Cognitive treatment is found to be more beneficial as it is based on reorganization of sensation while learning interventions could be sometimes time consuming and patient may not adhere to the process. PD is a case where lot of endurance is desired and results cannot be procured overnight but the trauma fades with time and patient recovers at a faster pace. References 1. Barlow, DH., Levitt, JT., Bufka, LF. 1999. The dissemination of empirically supported treatments: A view to the future. Behavior Research and Therapy, 37, 147?162. 2. Brewin, CR., Dalgleish, T., Joseph, S. 1996. A dual representation theory of posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychological Review, 103, 670?686. 3. Clark, DM. 1986. A cognitive model of panic. Behavior Research and Therapy, 24, 461?470. 4. Furukawa, TA., Watanabe, N., Churchill, R. 2006. Psychotherapy plus antidepressant for panic disorder with or without agoraphobia: Systematic review. British Journal of Psychiatry, 188, 305?312. 5. Learning Theories. [online] [cited 12 Mar 2012]. Retrieved from http://www.northern.ac.uk/learning/NCMaterial/Psychology/lifespan%20folder/Learningtheories.htm 6. Poling, A., Normand, M. 1999. Noncontingent reinforcement: an inappropriate description of time-based schedules that reduce behavior. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 32, 237–238. 7. Roy-Byrne, PP., Craske, MG., Stein, MB. 2006. Panic disorder. The Lancet, 368(9540), 1023?1032. 8. Shear, MK., Cooper, AM., Klerman, GL., Busch, FN., Shapiro, M. 1993. A psychodynamic model of panic disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 859?866. Read More