Characteristics of Phobias Flashcards
What are phobias?
Extreme fear/anxiety triggered by an object, place, or situation. Extent of fear is out of proportion to the danger actually proposed.
Name the 3 categories of phobias.
Specific
Social
Agoraphobia
What are specific phobias?
Phobias of objects or situations
What is social phobia?
Phobia of social situations and events
What is agoraphobia?
Phobia if being outside in a public space.
Name the 3 behavioural characteristics of phobias.
Panic
Avoidance
Endurance
What might a person displaying panic in the presence of a phobic stimulus do?
Scream and cry.
What might a person displaying avoidance to a phobia do?
They make a conscious effort to stay away from the phobic stimulus.
What might a person displaying endurance to a phobia do?
Remain in the presence of the phobic stimulus while experiencing high anxiety to ‘keep an eye’ on it.
Name the 3 emotional characteristics of phobias.
Anxiety
Fear
Unreasonable emotional response
What does anxiety prevent a phobic person from doing in the presence of the stimulus?
Prevents them from relaxing.
What is fear and how does it compare to anxiety?
The immediate unpleasant response when we encounter or think about the stimulus. It is intense, but shorter lived than anxiety.
What is an unreasonable emotional response?
Where anxiety is disproportionate to the threat involved.
Name the 3 cognitive characteristics of phobias.
Selective attention to the phobic stimulus
Irrational thoughts
Cognitive distortions
What is displaying selective attention to the phobic stimulus?
How is this beneficial for rational fears?
We focus on the stimulus so we can quickly react to it if it becomes a threat.
This can be beneficial if the fear is rational so we can quickly get away from it.
