phobias (characteristics) Flashcards
1
Q
phobia
A
irrational fear of object or situation
2
Q
behavioural
A
way people act
3
Q
emotional
A
related to person’s feelings or mood
4
Q
cognitive
A
refers to process of ‘knowing’, including thinking, reasoning, remembering & believing
5
Q
DSM-5 categories of phobias
A
- specific phobia
- social anxiety (social phobia)
- agoraphobia
6
Q
describe specific phobia
A
phobia of an object (eg. animal/body part) or situation (eg. flying/injection)
7
Q
describe social anxiety (social phobia)
A
phobia of social situation eg. public speaking, using public toilet
8
Q
describe agoraphobia
A
phobia of being outside/in public place
9
Q
3 behavioural characteristics of a phobia & describe each
A
- panic
- panic in response to phobic stimulus
- range of behaviours eg. crying, screaming, running away
- children may react differently eg. freezing, clinging, tantrum - avoidance
- effort to prevent coming into contact with phobic stimulus
- can interfere with work, education & social life - endurance
- alternate behavioural response to endurance
- person chooses to remain in presence of phobic stimulus
- eg. someone with arachnophobia may choose to stay in room to keep eye on spider
10
Q
3 emotional characteristics of a phobia & describe each
A
- anxiety
- phobias = anxiety disorders
- unpleasant high state of arousal
- can be long term - fear
- immediate & extremely unpleasant response when think about phobic stimulus
- usually more intense/shorter periods than anxiety - emotional response is unreasonable
- anxiety/fear much greater than normal
- disproportionate to threat
11
Q
3 cognitive characteristics of a phobia & describe each
A
- selective attention to phobic stimulus
- if see it = hard to look away from
- not useful when fear is irrational - irrational beliefs
- may have unfounded thoughts regarding phobic stimulus
- can’t be easily explained/no basis in reality - cognitive distortions
- perceptions of individual may be unrealistic/inaccurate
