Phobias Flashcards
How can a phobia be characterised
By excessive fear and anxiety, triggered by an object, place, or situation.
Why are phobias classified as ‘irrational’
The extent of the fear is out of proportion to any real danger presented by the phobic stimulus
What can phobia’s lead to
Disruptive, irrational behaviours, or avoidance behaviours which can be maladaptive and interruptive to everyday life
What does the DSM-5 recognise as the 3 categories of phobias?
- a specific phobia
- social anxiety (social phobia)
- agoraphobia
What are the 3 behavioural characteristics of phobias? (pea)
- panic
- avoidance
- endurance
What are PANIC responses in response to a phobic stimulus
Panic may involve a range of behaviours including crying, screaming or running away. Children may react differently for example by freezing, clinging, or having a tantrum
What are AVOIDANCE responses in response to a phobic stimulus
Unless they are trying to face their fear, people will try to prevent coming into contact with their stimulus.
Why do avoidance behaviours affect everyday life
It may limit the time people spend outside/with others which could interfere with work, education, and a social life
What are ENDURANCE responses in response to a phobic stimulus
If a person chooses to remain in the presence of a phobic stimulus to ensure nothing happens
What are the 3 emotion-related characteristics of phobias?
- anxiety
- fear
- unreasonable emotional response
Description of an anxiety characteristic
When the phobia causes an unpleasant state of high arousal (anxiety) and makes it difficult for a person to relax or feel positive emotions
Description of an fear characteristic
The immediate and extremely unpleasant response experienced when encountering or thinking about a phobia (more intense, but shorter lasting than anxiety)
Description of an unreasonable emotional response characteristic
When the anxiety or fear faced is disproportionate to any threat posed
What are the cognitive characteristics of phobias (sic)
- selective attention
- irrational beliefs
- cognitive disorders
What happens when someone has selective attention to the phobic stimulus
They find it hard to look away since they feel as though that way, they can react quickly to a threat, however, this may lead to a lack of concentration with other things
What happens when someone has irrational beliefs about the phobic stimulus
The person holds untruthful thoughts about the phobia which can’t be explained and puts increased pressure on the person to meet their irrational demands
What happens when someone has cognitive distortions about their phobic stimulus
Their perceptions of the phobia may be inaccurate and unrealistic
Who and when created the two-process model to understand phobias
Mowrer in 1947
What is the 2-process model to understand phobias
Acquisition - focus on how the phobia was acquired (sometimes classical conditioning)
Maintenance - why does the person continue to have the phobia (operant conditioning - negative reinforcement)
Positives of the 2-process model
- supporting research such as the Little Albert study (phobias are acquired through classical conditioning)
- good application for treating phobias
Negatives of the 2-process model
- ignores possible biological preparedness for phobias (evolved to have a fear of dangerous things)
- deterministic (humans are viewed as passive responders to the environment with little conscious insight)
Who developed systematic desensitisation?
Joseph Wolpe (1958)
What is S.D.
An exposure treatment based on the principles of classical conditioning
What is the aim of S.D.
To substitute the fear response for a response of relaxation
What are the steps to systematic desensitisation?
1) Functional analysis (why and how the fear happened)
2) Relaxation training (learning breathing techniques)
3) Developing an anxiety hierarchy (increasingly difficult target aims)
4) Gradual exposure (phobic object is gradually introduced through the anxiety hierarchy
What is the difference between ‘in vivo’ desensitisation or ‘in vitro’ desensitisation
‘In vivo’ is being exposed to the real object
‘In vitro’ is being exposed to the imaginary object
(most therapists use both)
2 disadvantages of desensitisation
- if certain phobias like heights have a survival component since they enabled our ancestors to survive, they are harder to remove (exposure therapy doesn’t always work)
- for the treatment to work, the person has to have a clearly identifiable phobia, so the treatment can’t help general anxiety disorders
who developed the flooding technique, and when
Thomas Stampfl in 1967
how is flooding defined
the direct, prolonged exposure to a fearful situation or experience
what does the patient go through in flooding treatment
- a physical situation with their phobia
- quick and continuous exposure to the fear
- a prolonged period of exposure with no escape
what principles is flooding based on
classical conditioning and reciprocal inhibition (the idea is to replace the fear with a different emotion)
what is the psychological component of flooding
through continuous exposure, the client will see it as less fear-producing, once they realise that the worst didn’t happen, they realise their phobia is irrational
what is the biological component of flooding
when fearful, your nervous system is activated, and a fear/anxiety is activated, which can only be experienced for a certain period of time, so as it subsides, the body is forced into calm due to exhaustion
strengths of flooding
- quick and cost effective
- supporting evidence that proves it is more effective (Jospeh Wolpe removed a girl’s phobia of cars in 4 hours)
- virtual reality flooding is now possible due to new technology, allowing patients to be treated in more dangerous fears
weaknesses of flooding
- ppts have individual differences so may not be effective for everyone
- it may cause more distress than before (unethical) and has the potential to induce psychological harm, reducing its credibility
