lesson 5 phobias Flashcards
behavioural characteristics of phobias
Avoidance- when faced with object/situation the response is to avoid, can interfere with persons normal daily life and cause distress, people might avoid places where they might see their phobic object
Endurance- when a person is stressed their bodily response is usually fight/flight, however when faced with phobia person might freeze or faint instead, freezing is so the predator might think the person is ‘dead’ so leave them alone, person might endure the phobic object but freeze still
Disruption of functioning- anxiety and avoidance created by the phobia might be so extreme that this could interfere with person’s ability to function socially or at work
Panic- person with phobia might panic in the presence of stimulus, might show behavioural characteristics of crying, screaming, vomiting, running away or freezing
emotional characteristics of phobias
Fear- persistent excessive and unreasonable fear might be felt in the presence of stimulus, can be long lasting, fear response might be immediate, might have feelings of terror and worry about death if they come into contatct with their phobic object
Panic and anxiety- person will feel highly anxious and experience unpleasant negative feelings when faced with phobic object, might worry a lot
Emotions- strong emotions are cued by the presence or anticipation of the phobia and these are out of proportion to the actual danger posed
cognitive characteristics of phobias
Irrational- person will think in an irrational manner about their phobia and they will resist rational arguments that counter it
Isnight- person will know their fear is excessive or unreasonable but they still find it difficult not to fear the object
Cognitive distortions- person will have distorted perception of the stimulus, sees them in a negative way
Selective attention- when the person encounters phobia they cannot look away and they focus all their attention on it, they will ignore everything else around them and just focus on phobia
