Phobias

Question 1

DSM-5 catergories of phobia

Phobias

Answer 1

Characterised by excessive fear & anxiety, triggered by an object, place or situation
Extent of fear is out of proportion to any real danger presented by phobic stimulus

Specific phobia - phobia of an object or situation
Social anxiety - phobias of a social situation
Agoraphobia - phobia or being outisde or in a public space

Question 2

Panic

Behaviour characteristics of phobias

Answer 2

A person w/ a phobia may panic in response to presence of phobic stimulus
May involve range of behaviours including crying, screaming or running away
Children may react by freezing, clinging or having a tantrum

Question 3

Avoidance

Behaviour characteristics of phobias

Answer 3

Person will go to a lot of effort to prevent coming in contact w/ phobic stimulus - can make it hard to go about daily life

Question 4

Endurance

Behaviour characteristics of phobias

Answer 4

Alternative behavioural response to avoidance
Occurs when person chooses to remain in presence of phobic stimulus

Question 5

Anxiety

Emotional characteristics of phobias

Answer 5

Phobias classifed as anxiety disorders
By definition they involve an emotional response of anxiety, an unpleasant state of high arousal
This prevents a person relaxing and makes it difficult to experience any positive emotion

Question 6

Fear

Emotional characteristics of phobias

Answer 6

Immediate and extremely unpleasant response we experience when we encounter or think about a phobic stimulus
More intense than anxiety but experiened for shorter periods of time

Question 7

Emotional response is unreasonable

Emotional characteristics of phobias

Answer 7

Anxiety or fear is disproportionate to any threat posed
E.g. a person w/ arachnophobia will have strong emotional response to a tiny spider

Question 8

Selective attention to phobic stimulus

Cognitive characteristics of phobias

Answer 8

If person can see phobic stimulus it is hard to look away from it
Keeping our attention on something dangerous is good as it gives us chance to react quickly to threat, but not so useful when fear is irrational

Question 9

Irrational beliefs

Cognitive characteristics of phobias

Answer 9

A person w/ a phobia may hold unfounded thoughts in relation to phobic stimuli (i.e. that can’t easily be explained and don’t have any basis in reality

Question 10

Cognitive distortions

Cognitive characteristics of phobias

Answer 10

Perceptions of a person w/ a phobia may be inaccurate and unrealistic