phobias

Question 1

describe the DSM-5

Answer 1

• characterised by fear and anxiety

- created 3 different categories

Question 2

what are the 3 categories of the DSM-5

Answer 2

• specific phobia: fear of object/situation
• social phobia: phobia of situation eg. public speaking
• agoraphobia: phobia of being outside

Question 3

what are the 3 steps of behavioural characteristics of phobias

Answer 3

• panic
• avoidance
• endurance

Question 4

explain panic in behavioral characteristics of phobias

Answer 4

• person may panic in response to phobic stimulus
• eg. crying, screaming
• children may react differently

Question 5

explain avoidance in behavioral characteristics of phobias

Answer 5

• unless an effort is made to face fear they put effort into avoiding phobic stimulus
• make it hard to have normal everyday life eg. fear of toilets

Question 6

explain endurance in behavioral characteristics of phobias

Answer 6

• alternative to avoidance
• remains in presence of phobic stimulus
• continues to have high anxiety
• sometimes may be unavoidable

Question 7

explain anxiety as an emotional characteristic of phobias

Answer 7

• in presence of stimulus anxiety prevents sufferer from relaxing
• hard to experience positive emotion
• fear is immediate response through anxiety
  examople. arachnophobia, stimulus of spider causes anxiety levels to increase
• when seeing a spider=fear

Question 8

explain how emotional responses are unreasonable as an emotional characteristic of phobias

Answer 8

• emotional response go beyond reasonable due to phobia

- widely disproportionate to be so scared of a something to harmless eg. spider

Question 9

explain selective attention to the phobic stimulus as a cognitive characteristic of phobias

Answer 9

• sufferer finds it hard to look away
• keeping attention gives best chance of reacting quick to threat
• not useful when fear is irrational

Question 10

explain irrational beliefs as a cognitive characteristic of phobias

Answer 10

• have irrational beliefs to phobic stimulus
• eg. for people with social phobias they may feel that they must always be clever and puts pressure on them to perform well

Question 11

explain cognitive distortions as a cognitive characteristic of phobias

Answer 11

• perception of stimulus may be distorted

- eg. snakes seen as aggressive

Question 12

what are the 3 points of emotional characteristics of phobias?

Answer 12

• anxiety example: arachnophobia

- emotional responses are unreasonable

Question 13

what are the 3 points of cognitive characteristics of phobias?

Answer 13

• selective attention
• irrational beliefs
• cognitive distortions