Characteristics of Phobias Flashcards
What is a phobia?
Type of anxiety disorder
What is anxiety?
An emotion people experience and is a natural response to dangerous stimuli.
What are phobias characterised by?
Uncontrollable, extreme, irrational and enduring fears and anxiety levels out of proportion to an actual risk
What are Specific Phobias?
Fears about specific objects or situations (heights)
What is Social anxiety?
Anxiety related to social situations, such as talking to a group of people
What is Agoraphobia?
Fear of open spaces or being trapped in a public space where escape is difficult
What are the 3 characteristics in a phobia?
Behavioural, Emotional and Cognitive.
What are the 3 actions in the behavioural characteristics?
Endurance, Panic and Avoidance
What is Panic to do with a phobia?
A person with a phobia may panic in response to the presence of a phobic stimuli
What is Avoidance behaviour with phobias?
When a person is scared with a stimuli which creates fear the first response it to avoid it, to reduce anxiety occuring
What is Endurance behaviour with phobias?
The sufferer remains in the presence of the phobic stimulus experiencing high levels of anxiety
What are the 3 cognitive characteristics?
-Selective attention to the source of the phobia
-Irrational beliefs
-Cognitive distortions
Selective attention to the source of the phobia
If the person sees the phobic stimulus, it is hard to look away from it. Keeping attention on something dangerous is positive as it gives us the best chance of reacting quickly to the threat, but not useful when its irrational.
What are Irrational beliefs to do with phobias?
Irrational beliefs in relation to the stimuli. These beliefs increase the pressure on the sufferer to perform well in social situation
What are Cognitive disorders?
The phobic person’s perception of the phobic stimulus may be distorted.
