Phobias (PSYCHOPATHOLOGY 2/4) Flashcards
phobia definition
excessive fear and anxiety triggered by an object, place or situation
out of proportion to any real danger presented - irrational
lead to disruptive or avoidance behaviour
behavioural characteristics
PANIC - crying, screaming or running
AVOIDANCE - conscious effort to avoid coming in to contact, go to a lot of effort, interfere with everyday life
ENDURANCE - alternative response to avoidance, remain in presence with stimulus
emotional characteristics
ANXIETY - unpleasant state of high arousal, prevents relaxation or positive emotions
FEAR - immediate and unpleasant response, more intense than anxiety
UNREASONABLE EMOTIONAL RESPONSE - anxiety or fear greater than normal, disproportionate to threat posed
cognitive characteristics
SELECTIVE ATTENTION TO PHOBIC STIMULUS - keeping attention to get chance to act quickly, struggles with concentration
IRRATIONAL BELIEFS - unfounded thoughts, not based in reality
COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS - perceptions inaccurate and unrealistic
two-process model
Mowrer, 1947
ACQUISTION - how phobias acquired (classical conditioning)
MAINTENANCE - why person continues to have a phobia (operant conditioning)
two-process model strengths
real-world application
development of exposure therapies + helpful for treatment (systematic desensitisation or flooding –> help patient feel more relaxed)
through finding root cause
effective, valid theory
evidence of caused by traumatic experience (CC)
Ad De Jongh found that 73% with fear of dental treatment had experienced trauma related
only 21% with low dental anxiety had trauma
knowledge through CC can encourage positive behaviour or increase safety
Gustafson - wolves stopped from attacking sheep using CC - fed mutton wrapped in sheepskin doused with lithium chloride, made them vomit, associating sheep with the chemical, stopped attacking sheep, became submissive
real world application
positive, danger-reducing behaviour - valid and accurate and can help animals
two-process model weaknesses
does not account for cognitive aspects of phobias which may affect maintenance
only focused on explaining behaviour, specifically avoidance behaviour
invalid, does not account for what is happening mentally
not all phobias acquired following a bad experience
some common phobias occur in populations were few people encounter stimulus
hard to find treatment for everyone as causes vary
avoidance responses not motivated by reduction in anxiety
Rachman ‘safety signals hypothesis’ avoidance motivated by positive feelings associated with safe places - agoraphobics with certain people or a route
maintenance not neccessarily due to negative reinforcement - hard to know why and how to treat
not all frightening experiences lead to phobias
Di Nardo not everyone bitten by a dog develop a phobia
explained by diathesis stress model - genetic vulnerability to developing phobias more likely
caused by other reasons - hard to treat
fails to account for role of evolution
Seligman genetically programmed to associate life-threatening stimuli with fear
‘biological preparedness’
model suggests learn through environment, doesn’t refer to genetics
systematic desensitisation (treating phobias)
Wolpe
exposure treatment based on classical conditioning
extinguish undesirable behaviour by substituting fear response with relaxation
reciprocal inhibition - contrasting emotions cannot co-exist
can ‘unlearn to fear’ something
systematic desensitisation process
FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS - triggers discussed
RELAXATION TECHNIQUES - trained to relax e.g. slowing breathing, mindful of ‘here and now’, progressive muscle relaxation, focusing on something, visualising peaceful scene
DEVELOPING ANXIETY HIERARCHY - agree on target aim, list of fears (least feared –> most)
GRADUAL EXPOSURE - phobic object slowly and gradually introduced according to hierarchy, only progressed when sufficiently relaxed, either irl or imaginary
systematic desensitisation strengths
supporting evidence
McGrath treated noise phobia - 75% responded well
high success rate, standardised and reliable
highly applicable and useful - help live without fear
supporting evidence
Capafons treated 20 aerophobia, 18 reported lower levels of fear and anxiety, whereas only 1 in control improved
evidence for success
possible for people to administer therapy themselves via computer simulations
just as effective as therapist-guided therapy, cheaper and more accessible
Gilroy 42 arachnophobia patients, less fearful than control who were taught relaxation techniques
long-term treatment (33 months later)
very successful with specific phobias
personalised treatment programme
greater control, suited to specific needs, get most out of, be comfortable
empowering, useful in overcoming phobias
no significant ethical issues - techniques decided by patient, not exposed to high anxiety situations, gradual
systematic desensitisation weaknesses
not all phobias easily treated
Ohman less effective at treating phobias with underlying survival components e.g. dark, heights, predators
enabled ancestors to survive, difficult to remove deep-rooted fears
not useful for all, reducing success rate, less reliable, less effective and useful
does not treat non-specific phobias
cause has to be identified
inappropriate for someone with general anxiety who worries about numerous imprecise situations
lowers success rate
not useful for all
not useful for people with psychoses
need to learn to relax and has to be involved in whole process, but not all can do this
flooding (treating phobias)
Stampfl
direct, prolonged exposure to a fearful situation or experience
no means to remove themselves - prevents avoidance response negatively reinforced
eventually become less fearful
based on classical conditioning - replace fear with relaxation
process of reciprocal inhibition
flooding (sympathetic nervous system)
anxiousness activates sympathetic nervous system, which can not last for a long time, giving energy to fight or flee
energy used quickly and body will eventually calm and activate parasympathetic nervous system, start to relax
how does flooding work?
forces calm response - become too physically exhausted for conditioned response of fear to occur
implosion
same process of flooding but asked to imagine the situation
aim to remove maladaptive behaviour
