Mental disorders - Phobias

Question 1

What is a phobia?

Answer 1

• an anxiety disorder
• it is an overwhelming fear of an object,place, situation or feeling
• this is in response to stimulus or stimuli

Question 2

What are some emotional characteristics of phobias?

Answer 2

• the primary characteristic is fear that is constant,excessive and unreasonable
• as well as anxiety and panic
• these emotions are triggered by the presence of a particular object/situation
• these emotions are usually excessive in relation to the actual danger posed

Question 3

What are the behavioural characteristics of phobias

Answer 3

• avoidance and panic
• some people may not be able to avoid their fear which results in panic causing high levels of stress and anxiety
• sometimes the panic response is so intense it triggers their ‘flight or fight mode’ so people may freeze (an adaptive response predator may think prey is dead)

Question 4

What are the cognitive characteristics of phobias?

Answer 4

• irrational beliefs i.e thinking all spiders are deadly (no deadly spiders in the UK)
• selective attention, a person becomes fixated on the object they fear because of irrational beliefs
• recognising that their fear is excessive or unreasonable which helps to distinguish between a mental illness and a phobia.