Phobias Flashcards
What are phobias?
- mental disorder characterized by excessive fear and anxiety in response to stimulus or situation > extent of fear is out of proportion to any real danger presented by phobic stimulus
What is a specific phobia ?
Phobia of an object, such as an animal or body part or a situation such as an injection
What is social anxiety?
Phobia of a social situation such as public speaking, public toilets
What is Agoraphobia?
phobia of being outside or in a public place
What are the three behavioural characteristics of phobias?
- panic
- avoidance
- endurance
Describe panic
Involved a range of behaviors such as crying, screaming running etc
Describe avoidance
Preventing any contact with phobic stimuli
Describe endurance
Choosing to remain in presence of phobic stimulus
What are the three emotional characteristics of phobias?
- Anxiety
- fear
- emotional response is unreasonable
Describe anxiety
Unpleasant state of high arousal - long lasting
Describe fear
Immediate and extremely unpleasant response to phobic stimulus - short term
Describe unreasonable emotional response
The anxiety/fear is disproportionate to any threat actually posed
What are three cognitive characteristics of phobias?
- selective attention to phobic stimulus
- irrational beliefs
- cognitive distortions
Describe selective attention to phobic stimulus
Hard to look away from phobic stimulus
Describe irrational beliefs
- Hold irrational beliefs in relation to phobic stimuli that can’t be explained and have no actual basis in reality
- unfounded beliefs
E.g. spiders can kill
Describe cognitive distortions
- Perceptions are inaccurate and unrealistic e.g. fear of belly buttons because they look ugly
What does DSM-5 stand for?
Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorder
