Phobias

Question 1

What is a phobia?

Answer 1

An irrational fear of an object or situation.

Question 2

DSM-5

Answer 2

Diagnostic and statistical manual on mental illness.

Question 3

Categories of phobias

Answer 3

Specific phobia: phobia of an object such as an animal, body part or situation such as flying or having an injection.

Social anxiety: Phobia of social situations such as public speaking or use of a public toilet

Agoraphobia: Phobia of being outside or in a public space.

Question 4

Behavioural characteristics of phobia

Answer 4

Panic- May involve crying, screaming or running away. Children may react differently by freezing, clinging or throwing a tantrum.

Avoidance- People tend to go to a lot of effort to prevent them coming into contact with the phobic stimulus. This can make it hard to go about daily life. e.g. if a person fears public toilets, then they limit the amount of time they spend out of their home in relation to how long they can go without using the toilet.

Endurance: A person chooses to remain in the presence of the phobic stimulus. e.g. a person with arachnophobia might choose to remain in the room with the spider on the ceiling and keep a weary eye on it instead of leaving.

Question 5

Emotional characteristics of phobias

Answer 5

Anxiety- Phobias can include an emotional response of anxiety, an unpleasant state of high arousal. This prevents a person from relaxing and makes it difficult for them to experience any positive emotion.

Fear- Fear is the immediate and extremely unpleasant response we experience when we encouter or think of the phobic stimulus. This is usually more intense but experienced for shorter periods than anxiety.