phobias Flashcards
what is a phobia?
an irrational fear of an object or situation
what are the 3 main characteristics of phobias (used to diagnose)?
Behavioural
Emotional
Cognitive
what are the 3 subsections of the Behavioural characteristics of phobias?
Panic
Avoidance
Endurance
what is panic?
A phobic person may panic in response to the presence of a phobic stimulus. Panic may involve a range of behaviours such as crying, screaming or running away. Children may react slightly differently by freezing, clinging or having a tantrum
what is avoidance?
A phobic person often goes through a lot of effort to avoid coming into contact with their phobic stimulus. This can make it hard to go about daily life.
what is Endurance?
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.
What are the 2 subsections of the Emotional Characteristics of Phobias?
Anxiety
Emotional responses are unreasonable
what is anxiety (in the context of phobias)?
phobias are classes as anxiety disorders, by definition 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.
an example would be arachnophobia
what is meant by emotional responses are unreasonable?
Emotional responses we experience in relation to phobic stimuli often go beyond what it reasonable. for example, levels of anxiety for an arachnophobic person upon seeing a spider exceed what is reasonable based on the threat it poses to the person.
what are the 3 subsections of the cognitive characteristics of phobias?
Selective attention to the phobic stimulus
Irrational beliefs
Cognitive distortions
what is selective attention to the phobic stimulus?
If a sufferer can see the phobic stimulus it is hard to look away from it. Keeping our attention on something dangerous is a good thing as it gives us the best chance of reacting quickly to a threat, but it is not so useful when the fear is irrational.
For example, a pogonophobic person will struggle to concentrate on what they are doing if there is someone with a beard in the room
what are irrational beliefs?
A phobic person may hold irrational beliefs in relation to phobic stimuli, these kind of beliefs may increase the pressure on the sufferer to perform well in situations.
what are cognitive distortions?
the phobic’s perceptions of the phobic stimulus may be distorted
eg. someone with arachnophobia sees the spider as more threatening than it actually is
