Phobia Flashcards
What is a phobia?
An irrational l fear of an object or situation
How are phobias characterised?
All phobias are characterised by excessive gear and anxiety, trigged by an object, place or situation. The extent of the fear is out of proportion to any real danger presented by the phobic stimulus.
What does the latest DSM recognise?
The latest version of the DSM recognises the following categories of phobia and related anxiety disorder:
- Specific phobia: a phobia of an object, such as an animal or body part, or a situation such as flying or having an injection.
- Social anxiety: phobia of social situation such as public speaking or using a public toilet
- Agoraphobia: phobia of being outside or in public place
How do we respond to things/ situations we fear?
-We respond to things or situations we fear by behaving in particular ways. We respond by feeling high levels of anxiety and trying to escape. The fear responses in phobias are the same as we experience for any other fear even if the level of fear is irrational- out of all proportion to the phobic stimulus.
How is panic used as part of behavioural characteristics of phobia ?
A phobic person may panic in response to the presence of the phobic stimulus. Panic may involve rage of behaviours including crying, screaming or running away. Children my react slightly differently, for example by freezing, clinging or having a tantrum
How is avoidance used as part of behavioural characteristics of phobia?
Unless the sufferer is making a conscious effort to face their fear, they tend to go to a lot of effort to avoid coming into contact with the phobic stimulus. This can make it hard to go about daily life.
For example, 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.
How is endurance used as part of behavioural characteristics of phobia?
The alternative to avoidance is endurance, in which a sufferer remains in the presence of the phobic stimulus, but continues to experience high levels of anxiety. This may be unavoidable in some situation, for example for a person who has an extreme fear of flying.
How anxiety an emotional characteristics of phobias?
Phobias are classed as anxiety disorders. By definition then they involve an emotional response of anxiety and fear. Anxiety is an unpleasant state of high arousal. This prevents the sufferer relaxing and makes it very difficult to experience any positive emotion. Anxiety can be long term. Fear is the immediate and extremely unpleasant response we experience when we encounter or think about the phobic stimulus.
How is an example- arachnophobia an emotional characteristics of phobias?
Matt has a phobia of spiders (arachnophobia). His anxiety levels will increase whenever he enters a place associated with spiders- this may be the spidery bit of a zoo or his garden shed. The anxiety is a general response to the situation. When he actually sees a spider he experiences fear- a very strong emotional response directed particularly towards the spider itself.
How is emotional responses are unreasonable consider an emotional characteristics of phobias?
The emotional responses we experience in relation to phobic stimuli go beyond what is reasonable. So, for example, Matt fears of spiders involves a very strong emotional response to a tiny and harmless spider. This is wildly disproportionate to the danger posed by any spider Matt is likely to meet in his shed.
What is cognitive characteristics of phobias?
The cognitive element is concerned with the ways in which people process information. People with phobias process information about phobic stimuli differently from the other objects or situation.
How is selective attention to the phobic stimulus part of cognitive characteristics of phobias?
If a sufferer can see the phobic stimulus it is hard to look away from it. Keeping our attention on something really dangerous is a good thing as it gives us the best chance of reacting quickly to a threat, but this is not so useful when the fear irrational. A pogonophobic will struggle to concentrate on what they are doing if there is someone with a beard in the room.
How is irrational beliefs part of cognitive characteristics of phobias?
A phobic may hold irrational beliefs in relation to phobic stimuli. For example, social phobias can involve beliefs like ‘I must always sound intelligent’ or ‘if I blush people will think i’m weak’. This kind of belief increases the pressure on the sufferer to perform well in social situations.
How is cognitive distortion part of cognitive characteristics of phobias?
The phobic’s perceptions of the phobic stimulus may be distorted. So, for example, an omphalophobic is likely to see belly buttons as ugly/ disgusting and an ophidiophobic may see snakes as aliens.
What does behavioural mean?
Ways in which people act
