Lesson 5 The behavioural, emotional and cognitive characteristics of phobias Flashcards
The behavioural characteristics of phobias (actions)
Avoidance - When faced with the object or situation that creates fear, the response is to avoid the object or situation. This can interfere with the person’s normal daily life such as their social or occupational activities and can cause distress. People might avoid places where they might see their phobic object.
Endurance (freeze/faint) - When a person is stressed their bodily response is usually fight/flight. However, when faced with the object or situation that is feared a person might freeze of faint instead. Freezing is so the predator (e.g. snake) might think that the person is “dead” so leave them alone. The person might endure the phobic object but “freeze” still.
Disruption of functioning - Anxiety and avoidance created by the phobia might be so extreme, that this could interfere with the person’s ability to function socially or at work.
Panic - The person with the phobia might panic in the presence of the stimulus. They might show behavioural characteristics of crying, screaming, vomiting, running away or freezing
The emotional characteristics of phobias (feelings)
Fear - Persistent, excessive and unreasonable fear might be felt in the presence of the stimulus, and this can be long lasting. The fear response might be immediate. They might have feelings of terror and worry about death if they come into contact with their phobic object.
Panic and anxiety - The person will feel highly anxious and experience unpleasant negative feelings when faced with the phobic situation. They might worry a great deal
Emotions (general) - Strong emotions are cued by the presence or anticipation of the phobic object/situation, and these are out of proportion to the actual danger that is posed. For example screaming uncontrollably when a person sees a small spider 20 metres away.
Cognitive characteristics of phobias (thinking)
Irrational - The person will think in an irrational manner about their phobia, and they will resist rational arguments that counter it. For example someone who is scared of flying will not listen to the fact that, “Flying is the safest form of transport.”
Insight - The person will know that their fear is excessive or unreasonable, but they still find it difficult not to fear the object, e.g. “I know it is silly to fear balloons, but I cannot help it.”
Cognitive distortions - The person will have a distorted perception of the stimulus for instance they might view snakes as alien and aggressive (see them in a negative way).
Selective Attention - When the person encounters the phobic stimulus, they cannot look away and they focus all of their attention on it. They will ignore everything else around them and just focus on the phobic situation.
What is a phobia
a mental disorder characterised by high levels of anxiety in response to a stimulus. The anxiety interferes with normal living
