characteristics of phobias

Question 1

what is the DSM system?

Answer 1

• diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorder, published by the american psychiatric association
• system for classifying and diagnosing mental health problems
• DSM is updated every so often as ideas about abnormality change
• the current version is the 5th edition so it is commonly called the DSM-5, published in 2013

Question 2

what are the categories of phobias recognised by the latest version of the DSM?

Answer 2

• specific phobia: phobia of an object, such as an animal, or a situation, such as having an injection
• social anxiety (social phobia): phobia of a social situation such as public speaking or using a public toilet
• agoraphobia: phobia of being outside or in a public place

Question 3

what is the diagnostic criteria for a specific phobia in the DSM-5?

Answer 3

• marked fear or anxiety about a specific object or situation that is actively avoided or endured with intense fear or anxiety
• the fear or anxiety is out of proportion to the actual danger posed by the object or situation and to the sociocultural context
• the fear, anxiety, or avoidance is persistent
• the fear, anxiety, or avoidance causes significant distress or impairment in important areas of functioning
• the disturbance is not better explained by the symptoms of another mental disorder

Question 4

what are all phobias characterised by?

Answer 4

• excessive fear and anxiety, triggered by an object, place or situation
• the extent of the fear is out of proportion to any real danger presented by the phobic stimulus

Question 5

what do behavioural, emotional and cognitive characteristics refer to?

Answer 5

• behavioural: the way in which people act
• emotional: related to a person’s feelings or mood
• cognitive: refers to the process of ‘knowing’, including thinking, reasoning, remembering and believing

Question 6

what are the behavioural characteristics of phobias?

Answer 6

• panic
• avoidance
• endurance

Question 7

behavioural characteristics of phobias: panic

Answer 7

• a person with a phobia may panic in response to the presence of the phobic stimulus
• panic may involve a range of behaviours including crying, screaming or running away
• children may react slightly differently eg. freezing, clinging or having a tantrum

Question 8

behavioural characteristics of phobias: avoidance

Answer 8

• unless the person is making a conscious effort to face their fear, they tend to go to a lot of effort to prevent coming into contact with the phobic stimulus
• this can make it hard to go about daily life
• eg. someone with a fear of public toilets may have to limit the time they spend outside the home in relation to how long they can last without a toilet
• this in turn can interfere with work, education and a social life

Question 9

behavioural characteristics of phobias: endurance

Answer 9

• this is an alternative behavioural response to avoidance
• it is when the person chooses to remain in the presence of the phobic stimulus
• eg. a person with a fear of spiders may choose to remain in a room with a spider on the ceiling and keep a wary eye on it rather than leaving

Question 10

what are the emotional characteristics of phobias?

Answer 10

• anxiety
• fear
• emotional response is unreasonable

Question 11

emotional characteristics of phobias: anxiety

Answer 11

• phobias are classified as anxiety disorders
• by definition they then involve an emotional response of anxiety
• this prevents a person relaxing and makes it very difficult to experience any positive emotion
• anxiety can be long term

Question 12

emotional characteristics of phobias: fear

Answer 12

• although the terms ‘anxiety’ and ‘fear’ are often used interchangeably, they have distinct meanings
• fear is the immediate and extremely unpleasant response we experience when we encounter or think about a phobic stimulus
• it is usually more intense but experienced for shorter periods than anxiety

Question 13

emotional characteristics of phobias: emotional response is unreasonable

Answer 13

• the anxiety of fear is much greater than is ‘normal’ and disproportionate to any threat posed
• eg. a person with arachnophobia will have a strong emotional response to a tiny spider whereas most people would respond in a less anxious way even to a poisonous spider

Question 14

what are the cognitive characteristics of phobias?

Answer 14

• selective attention to the phobic stimulus
• irrational beliefs
• cognitive distortions

Question 15

cognitive characteristics of phobias: selective attention to the phobic stimulus

Answer 15

• if a person can see the phobic stimulus it is hard to look away from it
• keeping our attention on something really dangerous is good as it gives us the best chance of reacting quickly to a threat, but this is not so useful when the fear is irrational eg. beards

Question 16

cognitive characteristics of phobias: irrational beliefs

Answer 16

• a person with a phobia may hold unfounded thoughts in relation to phobic stimuli (ie. that can’t be easily explained and don’t have any basis in reality)
• eg. social phobias can involve beliefs like ‘i must always sound intelligent’
• this kind of belief increases the pressure on the person to perform well in social situations

Question 17

cognitive characteristics of phobias: cognitive distortions

Answer 17

• the perceptions of a person with a phobia may be inaccurate and unrealistic
• eg. mycophobics see mushrooms as disgusting, ophidiophobics may see snakes as alien and aggressive-looking