4.2 Characteristics Of Phobias, Depression And OCD

Question 1

What are phobias?

Answer 1

• phobias = type of anxiety disorder
• anxiety = emotion all people experience - natural response to dangerous stimuli
• phobias are characterised by uncontrollable, extreme, irrational and enduring fears - anxiety levels that are out of proportion to any actual risk
• sufferers try and deal with phobias themselves - difficult to understand the occurrence rate - 10% people will suffer from a phobia at some point - females having twice the incidence of phobias than makes
• phobias - enduring lasting over many years
• originate in childhood - lessen strength in adulthood
• have insight to their condition - their fear reactions are irrational - can’t consciously control them

Question 2

What are the behavioural symptoms of phobias?

Answer 2

• avoidant anxiety response - confrontation with the feared object/ situations produces high anxiety responses - efforts made to avoid the feared object/situation - reduce the chances of such anxiety responses occurring - fear of ghosts - don’t take the shortcut through the graveyard at midnight
• disruption of functioning - anxiety and avoidance responses - very extreme- interfere with the ability to conduct everyday working and social functioning - social phobia - hard to socialise with others - interact meaningfully with them at work

Question 3

What are the emotional characteristics of phobias?

Answer 3

• persistent excessive fear- phobias produce high levels of anxiety - presence of or anticipation of feared objects and situations.
• fear from exposure to phobic stimulus - phobias - immediate fear response - panic attacks - presentation of phobic object or situation

Question 4

What are the cognitive characteristics of phobias?

Answer 4

• recognition of exaggerated anxiety - phobics - aware that the anxiety levels they experience - in relation to the feared object or situation are overstated

Question 5

What are the sub types of phobias?

Answer 5

• simple, social and agoraphobia

Question 6

What are simple phobias?

Answer 6

• simple phobias - known as specific phobias - sufferers have fears of specific things and environments - the fear of thunderstorms - coulrophobia - fear of clowns
• animal phobias - arachnophobia - fear of spiders - mottephobia- fear of moths
• injury phobias - fear of blood - haematophobia - scotomaphobia - fear of blindness
• situational phobias - aerophobia- fear of flying - fear of bridges - gephydrophobia - fear of bridges
• natural environment phobias - hydrophobia - fear of water - nephophobia - fear of clouds

Question 7

What are social phobias?

Answer 7

• commonly experienced type of phobia - being over anxious in social situations - talking in public - perception of being judged and feeling inadequate - conducting meaningful relationships difficult
• performance phobias - anxious about performing in public - playing at a concert - or eating in a restaurant with others
  -interaction phobias - anxious about mixing with others- going on a date or having an interview
• generalised phobias - anxious about situations where other people are present - being in a crowd or a football match

Question 8

What is agoraphobia?

Answer 8

• fear of leaving home - or a safe place - happens with panic attacks - sufferers experience panic first - anxiety making them vulnerable being in open spaces - agoraphobia can be bought on by simple phobias - fear of contamination or social embarrassment- natural avoidance response - find and stay in a safe place - home
• animal phobias - earliest onset - followed by simple phobias, social phobias then agoraphobia - learnt from experience or genetically transmitted