Phobias Flashcards
what type of disorder is phobias ?
- anxiety disorders
–> extreme irrational fear triggered by object, place or situation - extent of fear is out of proportion to any real danger presented by phobic stimulus
what are DSM-5 categories of phobias?
- Specific phobias
- Social phobia (social anxiety)
- Agoraphobia
DSM-5- specific phobias
phobia of an object (animal, body part etc) or a situation (injection etc)
–> animal phobia, injury phobia, situational phobia, natural phobia
DSM-5- social phobia
phobia of social situation e.g. public speaking, using public toilet
DSM-5- agoraphobia
phobia of being outside or in a public place
behavioural characteristics of phobias?
- PANIC- may include crying, screaming, running away etc (some ppl may freeze)
- AVOIDANCE- prevent coming into contact with phobic stimulus e.g. not going on holiday to avoid flights, can interfere with work, education, social life
- ENDURANCE- opposite to endurance, when a person chooses to remain in presence of phobic stimulus
cognitive characteristics of phobias
- SELECTIVE ATTENTION TO THE PHOBIC STIMULUS- person becomes fixated + can’t draw attention away from it
- IRRATIONAL BELIEFS- holding unfolded thoughts in relation to phobic stimulus, thoughts don’t have any basis in reality
- COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS- perceptions of a person may be inaccurate + unrealistic
emotional characteristics of phobias
- ANXIETY- (can be long term)
- FEAR- immediate + extremely unpleasant response when encounter/think about phobic stimulus –> more intense but more short-term than anxiety
- EMOTIONAL RESPONSE IS UNREASONABLE- disproportionate to any threat posed
what approach explains behaviours?
behavioural
who proposed the two process model?
Mowrer (1960)
what is the two process model?
- suggests phobias are acquired (developed ) by CC + maintained by OC
what is CC and OC?
CC- learning by association (transformation of a neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus (Pavlov’s dogs)
UCS (food) –> UCR (salivation)
NS (bell) –> NR
NS + UCS –> UCR
CS –> CR
OC- learning via consequences
- positive + negative reinforcement
strengths of two process model
- case study Little Albert= research support BUT phobias appear following a bad experience
- real world application (systematic desensitisation) exposure therapy –> stops the avoidance behaviour (negative reinforcement)= phobia not maintained
what is the Little Albert case study?
- initially Little Albert had no fear of white rat
- conditioning process- Albert presented with white rat and it was accompanied by a loud noise= UCS (noise) created fear response (UCR) –> pairing of rat with noise initially made fear response, then Albert began to display fear (NS) when he saw a rat without a noise (UCS)
UCS (loud noise) –> UCR (fear)
NS (rat) –> NR
NS + UCS –> UCR
CS (rat) –> CR (fear)
weaknesses of two process model
- only focuses of condition determined of phobia development, doesn’t account for phobias which may have an evolutionary origin e.g. fear of heights as could result in injury/death
–> called preparedness - TPM doesn’t explain why some people have strong dislike for something yet don’t develop a phobia
- doesn’t account for cognitive aspects of behaviour
behavioural approach to treating phobias- what are the two treatments?
systematic desensitisation
flooding
systematic desensitisation- what is it?
- most common behavioural therapy designed to gradually reduce phobic anxiety through the principle of CC
–> if person can learn to relax through presence of phobic stimulus (new response to phobic stimulus learned)= they will be cured
–> phobic stimulus paired with relaxation instead of anxiety
–> learning of a different response= counterbalancing - impossible to be relaxed + anxious at one time= one emotion inhibits other (reciprocal inhibitation)
systematic desensitisation- what are the 3 processes?
- anxiety hierarchy
- relaxation
- exposure
systematic desensitisation- anxiety hierarchy
patient + therapist work together to construct an anxiety hierarchy (list of situations that involve phobic stimulus from least to most frightening)
systematic desensitisation- relaxation
breathing exercises (calms patient physiologically by slowing breathing). Visualisation (person places themselves mentally in a cal, env.) drug therapy
systematic desensitisation- exposure
while in a relaxed state patients exposed to phobic stimulus (starting at stage 1 of hierarchy) + moving up stage by stage at a pace that suits them till they reach top of hierarchy whilst remaining relaxed
systematic desensitisation- strengths
- research support from Gulroy –> studied 42 patients who had SD as treatment for spier phobia over 3 x 45 mins sessions –> showed that they were less fearful than control group long + short term
- help ppl with learning disabilities
- can do SD with virtual reality (VR)= cost effective
systematic desensitisation- limitations
- doesn’t treat cause of behaviour only the behaviour it results in –> means phobia could return= useless
- some ppl may not be able to deal with phobia outside therapy sessions + apply what they’ve learnt
- patient may require vivid imagination + needs to be motivated
flooding- what is it?
- involves sudden, extreme exposure to the phobic stimulus (with no prior build-up or gradual approach)–> designed to extinguish fear
- immediate exposure! ‘all or nothing approach’
- has no relaxation techniques+ patient won’t be in a calm state
- sessions= normally only one that lasts a few hours (longer than SD)
flooding- how it works?
- stops phobic responses quicky as client has no other option of avoidance behaviour so quickly learns stimulus is harmless –> extinction occurs –> conditioned stimulus (CS) no longer produces the conditioned response (CR)
flooding strengths
- cheaper than SD and other phobia therapies –> only needs one sessions compared to around 10+
- works well with simple phobias
flooding limitations
- can be traumatic for patient (even though they give informed consent prior to therapy, unethical?
–> Schumacher et al found ppl rated flooding more stressful than SD –> may lack ethical validity - less effective with more complex phobias e.g. social phobias as requires social events= needs skill + training which flooding can’t provide
- may only mask symptoms, not tackle underlying cause of phobia
