Psychopathology - Psychological disorders: Phobias

Question 1

What is a phobia?

Answer 1

They are characterised by extreme irrational fear and anxiety which is triggered by an object,place or situation. The fear is out of proportion to any real danger presented by the phobic stimulus. The fear can be disruptive to everyday life, phobias are classified as anxiety disorders.

Question 2

Behavioural characteristics of phobias

Answer 2

• Panic: A phobic person may panic in response to the phobic stimulus and it can involve a range of behaviours such as crying, screaming or running away. Children may react by freezing, clinging or having a tantrum
• Avoidance: A phobic person tends to make alot of effort to avoid coming into contact with the phobic stimulus. This makes it hard to deal with everyday life and it can interfere with work, education and their social life
• Endurance: A sufferer remains in the presence of the phobic stimulus but continues to experience high levels of anxiety which can be unavoidable in some situations such as a person who has an extreme fear of flying

Question 3

Emotional characteristics of phobias

Answer 3

• Anxiety: Phobias are classed as anxiety disorders and a person with a phobia is in a constant state of worry, even if the phobic stimulus is not present. Anxiety is an unpleasant state of high arousal which prevents the sufferer relaxing
• Fear: Immediate and extremely unpleasant response when phobic stimulus is thought about or encountered. It’s intense but experienced for shorter periods than anxiety
• Emotional responses are unreasonable: The emotional responses a phobic person has in relation to the stimuli are extremely unreasonable/irrational

Question 4

Cognitive characteristics of phobias

Answer 4

• Selective attention to phobic stimulus: The phobic person cannot stop looking or thinking about the stimulus. When attention is kept on a dangerous thing, it’s good because it gives chance of reacting quickly to a threat, but it’s not useful when the fear is irrational
• Irrational beliefs: For example, someone who has a social phobia may have a belief such as: I must always sound intelligent, which increases the pressure on the sufferer to perform well in a social situation
• Cognitive disortions: A phobic person’s perceptions of stimulus may be distorted, inaccurate and unrealistic