phobias

Question 1

definition of a phobia

Answer 1

• considered as an anxiety disorder
• an extreme fear of an object or situation
• an irrational fear
• fear that is disproportionate to the actual danger
• a fear that leads to avoidance
• a fear that is maladaptive and disruptive to everyday life

Question 2

phobia categories recognised by the DSM 5

Answer 2

specific phobias - such as spiders or flying (9% of developing)
social phobias - such as using public toilets (12% of developing)
agoraphobia - such as being outside or in a public space (2% of developing)

Question 3

behavioural characteristics of phobias - panic

Answer 3

• person with phobia may panic in response to presence of stimulus
• may involve behaviours such as crying, screaming or running away, fainting, vomiting
• children may react differently, such as freezing, clinging or having a tantrum

Question 4

behavioural characteristics of phobias - avoidance

Answer 4

• unless someone is making a conscious effect to face their fear then they will tend to go to a lot of effort to prevent coming into contact with the stimulus
• this makes it hard to go about daily life

Question 5

behavioural characteristics of phobias - endurance

Answer 5

• alternative response to avoidance
• occurs when a person chooses to remain in the presence of the phobic stimulus
• often frozen still

Question 6

emotional characteristics of phobias - anxiety

Answer 6

• phobias are classed as anxiety disorders
• they therefore involve an emotional response of anxiety, an unpleasant state of high arousal
• prevents someone from relaxing and makes it difficult to experience a positive emotion
• anxiety can be long term

Question 7

emotional characteristics of phobias - fear

Answer 7

• fear and anxiety have different meanings
• fear is the immediate and extremely unpleasant response when we encounter or think about a phobic stimulus
• usually more intense but experienced for shorter periods than anxiety

Question 8

emotional characteristics of phobias - emotional response is unreasonable

Answer 8

• anxiety or fear is much greater than what is normal and is disproportionate to any threat posed

Question 9

cognitive characteristics of phobias - selective attention to the phobic stimulus

Answer 9

• if the person can see the phobic stimulus then it is difficult 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, but this is not so useful when the fear is irrational

Question 10

cognitive characteristics of phobias - irrational beliefs

Answer 10

• someone with a phobia may hold unfounded thoughts related to a phobic stimuli
• these often can’t be explained and dont have any basis in reality
• for example, people will think i am weak if i blush

Question 11

cognitive characteristics of phobias - cognitive distortions

Answer 11

• perceptions of a person with a phobia may be inaccurate and unrealistic
• for example, someone with mycophobia may see mushrooms as disgusting