PP - phobias

Question 1

what is the DSM-5

Answer 1

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Illnesses - the American psychiatric guide to mental health
- made in 2013 (outdated)
- have to pay to use

Question 2

what is a phobia

Answer 2

an irrational fear of an object/situation for over 6 months

Question 3

what are the DSM-5 categories of phobias

Answer 3

• specific phobia
• social anxiety
• agoraphobia

Question 4

what is a specific phobia

Answer 4

phobia of an object or situation: animal, injury, situational or natural phobias

Question 5

what is social anxiety

Answer 5

phobia of a social situation such as public speaking or using a public toilet

Question 6

what is agoraphobia

Answer 6

phobia of being outside or in a public place

Question 7

what are the characteristics of a phobia

Answer 7

• behavioral changes
• cognitive changes
• emotional changes

Question 8

what is the two-process model

Answer 8

phobias are caused by classical conditioning and maintained by operant conditioning

Question 9

how does operant conditioning maintain a phobia

Answer 9

positive and negative reinforcement

Question 10

how does classical conditioning form a phobia

Answer 10

creating a bond between stimulus and response e.g. little albert rat

Question 11

what are the treatments for phobias

Answer 11

• systematic desensitisation
• flooding

Question 12

what is systematic desensitization

Answer 12

a behavioural therapy designed to gradually reduce phobic anxiety through the principle of classical conditioning

Question 13

what are the behavioural characteristics of a phobia

Answer 13

• panic
• avoidance
• endurance

Question 14

what are the emotional characteristics of a phobia

Answer 14

• anxiety
• fear
• unreasonable response

Question 15

what are the cognitive characteristics of a phobia

Answer 15

• selective attention to the phobic stimulus
• irrational beliefs
• cognitive distortions

Question 16

what is counter conditioning in SD

Answer 16

• the learning of a different response

Question 17

what is reciprocal inhibition in SD

Answer 17

forcing the body to be relaxed so it cannot be anxious (one inhibits the other) as you cannot be relaxed and anxious at the same time

Question 18

what is involved in SD

Answer 18

• relaxation techniques
• the anxiety hierarchy
• exposure

Question 19

what is in vivo/vitro during a treatment plan

Answer 19

vitro - within a fake environment (lab, therapist room)
vivo - in real life

Question 20

what is flooding

Answer 20

immediate exposure to a phobic stimulus to cause extinction of the irrational fear

Question 21

what happens when someone is too exhausted to be afraid

Answer 21

the fight or flight instinct is worn out so there stops being a fear response

Question 22

what is VRET in SD

Answer 22

• virtual reality exposure treatment
• a virtual setting where people can face their fear in a safe setting
• used for specific phobias
• easy to change the intensity and quicker than other treatments

Question 23

what are the similarities of SD and flooding

Answer 23

• both break association with CC principles
• both do exposure with “vivo” object
• both have practical application
• both are successful

Question 24

differences between SD and flooding

Answer 24

• SD is gradual, flooding is immediate
• SD has in vitro components but flooding on in vivo
• flooding has ethical issues but SD doesn’t
• client is in control in SD, flooding they are not
• flooding induces biological response, SD is about environment

Question 25

strengths of the two process model as en explanation for phobias

Answer 25

• provides convincing evidence e.g. Sue et al found that people remember traumatic events that lead to phobias (support of CC)
• practical application - SD and flooding

Question 26

limitations of the two process model as an explanation for phobias

Answer 26

• not everyone who has phobias has has a traumatic experience e.g. sharks
• only provides an explanation for nurture (diathesis stress model)
• biological preparedness
• cognitive therapies may be more applicable to social phobias