anxiety Flashcards
diagnositc criteria and measures of anxiety, fear related disorder
explanation of fear, anxiety (ost, watson and reyner, freud)
genetic ost et al
- compared samples of blood, injection phobia with samples of other phobias
- behavioral tests and questionnaires were given
- results showed that 50 % of those with blood phobia had at least one or more parents having it. Similarly, 27 % of those with injection phobia had at least one parents having it. Results also showed that 21% of those with blood phobia has at least one sibilings having it.
- a key finding of this study is that ther is a high proportion of people with blood and injection phobia having a history of fainting compared to other phobias
- ost concluded suggested that there is a strong genetic link in blood and injection phobias.
- the genetic explanation also suggested that we are born to fear certain objects and fear is transmitted in our DNA to help our survival
watson and reyner behavioral explnation
- explains phobia in terms of classical conditioning and operant conditioning
- created phobia in a boy named little Albert based on the principles of classical conditioning
- cefore conditioning, the boy was exposed to the unconditioned stimulus of loud metal bar noise, with the unconditioned response of fearful and crying. during conditioning, boy was shown the netural stimulus of a white rat, and unconditioned stimulus of looud metal bar noise. boy showed the unconditioned response of fearful crying and avoidance. after conditioning, whenever the boy was shown the conditioned stimulus the white rat, the conditioned response of fearful crying and avoidance will be shown.
- classical conditioning explains how a phobia can start, operant conditioning explains how a phobia can be maintained. negative reinforcement is the removal of something unpleasant, increasing the likelihood of the behvaviour being repeated. In this case, the avoidance of fear stimulus acts as the negative reinforcer as it reduces the anxiety and fear. hence, the avoiding behaviour is more likely to be repeated.
freud et al psychodynamic explanation
- this explnation suggest that fear is repressed into the unconscious to protect the ego. or it could be due to the unresolved conflict between the id and the superego. it could also be the repressed urges of id being denied. the ego uses a self defense mecahnism to repress the conflict such as displacement.
this theory is backed by a case study on a boy named little hans. the boy developed strong interest in his penis but his mum threatened to cut it off, he developed a fear of castration. no longer later, he witnessed the death of a white horse and developed a fear towards white horse. His father reported noticing 2 notable fantasies in the boy which included having own kids with his mother and imagining a plumber replcaing his penis with a larger one. freud concluded that the fear may asised as a result of the castration threat from his mum and the banishment from his parents beds in the morning
treatment and management
