phobia revision

Question 1

define specific phobia

Answer 1

A persistent, irrational and intense fear of a single specific object or event that triggers a panic response

Question 2

what is the prevalence of the disorder in the Australian population

Answer 2

Research has found that approximately 5 per cent of
the population experiences at least one phobia at any given time and about 10 per cent of the population will have a phobia during their lifetime

Phobias often begin in early childhood, and twice as many women experience a phobia than men

Question 3

what is the age of onset for phobia

Answer 3

The age of onset depends on the phobia, most specific phobias develop during childhood and eventually disapear. for example, a phobia of animals has a mean age of 7 and claustrophobia has a meaan age of 20.

Question 4

how is a phobia different from a normal fear response?

Answer 4

A phobia is a much more intense response to a stimuli. A phobia is a persistent, irrational and intense fear of a particular object or event rather than just a rational fear to a particular stimulus
eg. fear of snakes: normal fear would just avoid the snake while a person with a phobia will cry and stress out.

Question 5

what are some physiological symptoms of a phiobic response?

Answer 5

• pupil dilates
• decresead or no stimulation of the salivary glands
• HR accelerates
• dilates bronchi for increased RR
• relaxes bladder
• stops stomach and pancreas functioning

Question 6

what are the three most imortant biological factors that contribut to the maintenance of phobia?

Answer 6

• stress response
• role of GABA
• genetic factors

Question 7

what are some stress response symptoms and what is their role?

Answer 7

• elevated HR
• elevated blood pressure
• release of stress hormones ( adrenalin and noradrenaline)

this circulates moe blood around the body which circulates glucose through our body for energy and also to improve focus to then have the abily to eiether fight the danger or flee to a safer place.

Question 8

what is the role of the amygdala and the hippocampus in specific phobia?

Answer 8

The role of the amygdala linking emotional content to memories. As such, it plays a critical role in anxiety disorders because it links the emotion of fear to specific events

As the hippocampus is responsible for formation and consolidation of memories it then enables the have a conscious recollection of the event.

Question 9

what is GABA?

Answer 9

gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) is a neurotransmitter which has an inhibitory role in the regulation of anxiety, arousal and sleep.

Question 10

what is the role of GABA in a specific phobia?

Answer 10

Low levels of GABA have been found in highly anxious individuals and this is considered to be a contributing factor in developing a specific phobia.

Question 11

what is the role of genetics in developing a specific phobia?

Answer 11

The phobia itself is not necessarily inherited but several biological elements can lead to a genetic vulnerability – such as being born with low levels of GABA similar to a parent or other relative.

This vulnerability is also expressed in a person’s personality. Individuals who are nervous and apprehensive about environmental objects and events are more likely to develop anxiety disorders and specific phobias. however, although a person may have the genetic predisposition to develop a phobia, there is no guarantee that they will do so.

Question 12

how do classical and operant conditioning play a role in specific phobia in terms of behaviour?

Answer 12

• when presented with a stimuli that causes fear or anxiety ( pain ) and it is constantly paired with a neutral stimuli ( going to the dentist ) it is likely that the person will form a phobia of the neutral stimulus
• however having a phobia is not simply learning through association. Actions that result in a negative reinforcer (removal of unpleasant stimulus) eg. avoiding an injection, are likely to improve the strength of the phobia and also lead to certain actions in order to keep removing the unpleasant behaviour.
• while classical and operant conditioning provides a convincing behavioural explanation for the acquisition of a specific phobia, they do not fully explain situations where people are phobic about objects or events that they have never experienced.
  eg seeing a bear for the first time and running away.

Question 13

How does our thoughts lead to an acquisition of a specific phobia?

Answer 13

This approach argues that anxious individuals have a tendency to exaggerate perceived threats, making them more likely to interpret some situations, objects or activities as more dangerous than the average person would.

Question 14

what are the different types of treatment for people with phobia?

Answer 14

• CBT
• Graduated exposure
• flooding

Question 15

what is Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and how does it treat people with phobia?

Answer 15

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) uses a combination of verbal and behaviour modification techniques which focuses on helping the person change negative automatic thoughts and replace them with more positive, realistic ones.

In CBT, the person is encouraged to recognise that the incidence of these events happening in real life is very small and that their catastrophic thoughts are not based on reality, As the person becomes more aware of their frightening/anxious thoughts, they begin to understand that their thoughts are based on incorrect assumptions and, with the help of the therapist, learn to change those thoughts to more realistic and positive ones.

Question 16

what is graduated exposure and how does it treat people with phobia?

Answer 16

Graduated exposure involves The client working through a hierarchy with the lowest being a small anxiety provoking stimulus (cartoon picture) with the highest being a large anxiety provoking stimulus ( the actual object). the client learns to remain relaxed while they go through each stage on the hierarchy. This is repeated until the person can imagine each situation or object with little or no anxiety/fear. Essentially, the objective of graduated exposure (systematic desensitisation) is simple: to recondition people so that the feared object, animal or situation (the conditioned stimulus) elicits relaxation or a neutral response rather than fear or anxiety.

Question 17

what is flooding and how does it treat people with phobia?

Answer 17

Flooding, sometimes known as exposure therapy, is a behavioural psychotherapy where patients are actually exposed at once and for prolonged periods to the feared stimulus. Patients are subjected to high levels of anxiety that they seek to replace with feelings of relaxation.

Question 18

what is some problems with flooding?

Answer 18

This is a high anxiety and stress inducing event for the client and may cause psychological harm. Although this method can achieve quicker results and has been successful in treating specific phobia, yet it is not suitable for all people as it can increase rather than decrease their phobia and has a greater incidence of spontaneous recovery of the phobia than other methods.

Question 19

what are the sociocultural factors involved in specific phobia?

Answer 19

environmental triggers
parent modelling
transmission of threat information

Question 20

what are the three environmental triggers that can lead to the development of a phobia?

Answer 20

1 direct exposure to a distressing or traumatic event, such as being bitten by a dog
2 witnessing other people experiencing a traumatic event, such as seeing another
person being mauled by a dog (observational learning)
3 reading or hearing about dangerous situations or events, for example,
developing a fear of dogs after hearing stories about children, adults or family pets being attacked by vicious dogs.

Question 21

how does parent modelling influence a specific phobia?

Answer 21

According to the social learning theory a great deal of our behaviour is learnt through imitating or modelling other people’s behaviours, which led to the suggestion that specific phobias can be learnt vicariously, by observing other people’s phobic reactions.
it has been found that Children who are exposed to parents with phobic responses are more likely to develop comparable fears to similar stimuli. Thus, parental modelling can lead to the transmission of threat information which is incorporated into the child’s long-term memory.

eg if a child views their parent constantly being scared of a moth they will more likely be scared of it too

Question 22

what is the difference between transmission of threat information and parent modelling?

Answer 22

The transmission of information that a person perceives as threatening is not limited to observing their parent’s responses. This can also be received from a range of different sources such as the media, Internet, friends, and school.
eg a child might watch a grown up movie where a clown kills a man and then develops a fear of clowns.

Question 23

define the biopsychsocial model?

Answer 23

this is an approach to describing and explaining how biological, psychological and social factors combine and interact to influence an persons level of physical and mental health.