PP - phobias Flashcards
what is the DSM-5
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Illnesses - the American psychiatric guide to mental health
- made in 2013 (outdated)
- have to pay to use
what is a phobia
an irrational fear of an object/situation for over 6 months
what are the DSM-5 categories of phobias
- specific phobia
- social anxiety
- agoraphobia
what is a specific phobia
phobia of an object or situation: animal, injury, situational or natural phobias
what is social anxiety
phobia of a social situation such as public speaking or using a public toilet
what is agoraphobia
phobia of being outside or in a public place
what are the characteristics of a phobia
- behavioral changes
- cognitive changes
- emotional changes
what is the two-process model
phobias are caused by classical conditioning and maintained by operant conditioning
how does operant conditioning maintain a phobia
positive and negative reinforcement
how does classical conditioning form a phobia
creating a bond between stimulus and response e.g. little albert rat
what are the treatments for phobias
- systematic desensitisation
- flooding
what is systematic desensitization
a behavioural therapy designed to gradually reduce phobic anxiety through the principle of classical conditioning
what are the behavioural characteristics of a phobia
- panic
- avoidance
- endurance
what are the emotional characteristics of a phobia
- anxiety
- fear
- unreasonable response
what are the cognitive characteristics of a phobia
- selective attention to the phobic stimulus
- irrational beliefs
- cognitive distortions
what is counter conditioning in SD
- the learning of a different response
what is reciprocal inhibition in SD
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
what is involved in SD
- relaxation techniques
- the anxiety hierarchy
- exposure
what is in vivo/vitro during a treatment plan
vitro - within a fake environment (lab, therapist room)
vivo - in real life
what is flooding
immediate exposure to a phobic stimulus to cause extinction of the irrational fear
what happens when someone is too exhausted to be afraid
the fight or flight instinct is worn out so there stops being a fear response
what is VRET in SD
- 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
what are the similarities of SD and flooding
- both break association with CC principles
- both do exposure with “vivo” object
- both have practical application
- both are successful
differences between SD and flooding
- 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
strengths of the two process model as en explanation for phobias
- 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
limitations of the two process model as an explanation for phobias
- 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
what is biological preparedness
being born with fears to protect us during evolution
