4.1.4 BEHAVIOURAL, EMOTIONAL, COGNITIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF PHOBIAS Flashcards

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1
Q

what is a phobia?

A
  • an irrational fear of an object / place / situation that causes a constant avoidance of said object / people / situation
  • all phobias are characterised by the excessive fear and anxiety caused
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2
Q

the DSM-5 recognised 3 categories of phobias
what are these?

A
  • specific phobia
  • social phobia (social anxiety)
  • agoraphobia
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3
Q

what is a specific phobia?

A
  • phobia of specific object / situation
    eg) needle / spider / flying
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4
Q

what is a social phobia (social anxiety)?

A
  • phobia of social situations
    eg) public speaking
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5
Q

what is an agoraphobia?

A
  • phobia of being outside / public place
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6
Q

how do we respond to phobias?

A

respond to things / situations we fear by behaving in particular ways
- we feel high levels of anxiety and try to escape

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7
Q

what are the three behavioural characteristics of phobias?

A

1) panic
2) avoidance
3) endurance

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8
Q

how do we respond through panic?
BEHAVIOURAL

A
  • we may panic in response to the presence of the phobic stimulus
  • this could result in displaying a range of behaviour
    -> crying
    -> screaming
    -> running away
  • children may react differently
    -> freezing
    -> clinging
    -> having a tantrum
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9
Q

how do we respond in avoidance?
BEHAVIOURAL

A
  • will avoid the phobic stimulus
  • can make daily life complicated
    eg) fear of going outside = unable to function in their day to day life
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10
Q

how do we respond through endurance?
BEHAVIOURAL

A
  • alternative to avoidance
  • individual chooses to remain in the presence of the phobia
  • continues to suffer and experience high levels of anxiety

eg) may be unavoidable in some situations like flying

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11
Q

what are the two emotional characteristics of phobias?

A

1) emotional responses
2) anxiety

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12
Q

what are the emotional responses to phobias?
EMOTIONAL

A
  • ones experienced in relation to phobic stimulus go beyond what’s reasonable
  • is disproportionate to the danger they’re facing

eg) showing large amounts of fear towards a small spider although humans would beat said spider with ease

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13
Q

how do we respond with anxiety to phobias?
EMOTIONAL

A
  • will suffer from anxiety
  • an unpleasant state of high arousal
  • stops person being able to relax / feel any other emotion
  • can be long term unlike fear which is an immediate response when coming into contact with the phobia feared
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14
Q

what are the 2 cognitive characteristics of phobias?

A

1) selective attention to the phobic stimulus
2) cognitive distortions

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15
Q

how do we respond to the selective attention to the phobic stimulus?
COGNITIVE

A

to the source of the phobia
- often when the person is near the phobias, they can’t focus on anything else
- usually keeping your attention on something dangerous gives you higher chance of survival
- this doesn’t apply when the fear is irrational
eg) phobias

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16
Q

how do we respond through cognitive distortions to a phobia?
COGNITIVE

A

persons perception of the phobia can be distorted
eg) spider phobia can see spider as aggressive and angry looking and may feel the spider is running towards them to attack