Phobias

Question 1

Phobia

Answer 1

an irrational fear of an object or situation

Question 2

behavioural , emotional, cognitive

Answer 2

behavioural - ways people act

emotional - related to a person’s feelings or mood

cognitive - process of ‘knowing’ including thinking, reasoning, remembering, believing

Question 3

what are the DSM categories of phobia related to anxiety disorder:

Answer 3

specific phobia - of an object , animal, boyd part , situation etc

social anxiety (social phobia) - phobia of social situation such as public speaking

agoraphobia - phobia of being outside or in a public place

Question 4

behavioural characteristics of phobias

Answer 4

Panic : person may panic in response to the presence of phobic stimulus. Including crying, screaming, running away. Children may react slightly different - freezing, clinging, tantrum

avoidance - effort to prevent coming into contact with the phobic stimulus.

endurance : occurs when someone chooses to remain in the presence pf the phobic stimulus - e.g. person scared of spiders would rather stay in the room and keep an eye on it than leaving it

Question 5

emotional characteristics of phobias

Answer 5

anxiety: phobias are classed as anxiety disorders, involving an emotional response of anxiety. this prevents a person relaxing and makes it difficult to experience positive emotion, anxiety can be long term

fear: fear is immediate and extremely unpleasant response we experience when we encounter or think about a phobic stimulus. Usually more intense but shorter than anxiety

emotional response is unreasonable: The anxiety or fear is much greater than is ‘normal’ and disproportionate to any threat posed

Question 6

cognitive characteristics of phobias :

Answer 6

selective attention to the phobic stimulus: when they see the phobic stimulus, it is hard to look away

irrational beliefs: person with a phobia may have unfounded thoughts in relation to phobic stimuli. e.g. thinking ‘if I blush people will think I’m weak’ - this increases the pressure on the person to perform well in social situations

cognitive distortions: perceptions of a person with a phobia may be unrealistic and inaccurate . someone for example fear of snakes may seen them as alien and aggressive looking