characteristics of phobias

Question 1

what are phobias classified as

Answer 1

anxiety disorders

Question 2

define a phobia

Answer 2

irrational fear of object or situation

Question 3

what does DSM-5 stand for

Answer 3

diagnostic and statistical manual

Question 4

what is the DSM-5

Answer 4

manual for mental disorders
- states methods used to classify and diagnose disorders

Question 5

what are the 3 types of phobias DSM-5 identifies

Answer 5

• specific phobia
• social anxiety (social phobia)
• agoraphobia

Question 6

define specific phobia

Answer 6

a phobia of object or situation

Question 7

define social anxiety

Answer 7

phobia of social situation

Question 8

define agoraphobia

Answer 8

phobia of being outside or in public place

Question 9

what characteristics are there for phobias (3)

Answer 9

emotional, behavioural, cognitive

Question 10

define emotional characterstics

Answer 10

ways in which people feel

Question 11

define behavioural characterstics

Answer 11

ways in which people act and behave in situation

Question 12

define cognitive characterstic

Answer 12

refers to process of thinking - knowing, perceiving and believing

Question 13

what are the emotional characteristics of phobias

Answer 13

• anxiety
• unreasonable emotional response

Question 14

expand on anxiety being an emotional characteristic of phobias

Answer 14

anxiety is unpleasant state of high arousal preventing sufferer from relaxing
- can be long term
- fear is immediate and unpleasant

Question 15

expand on unreasonable emotional response being emotional characteristic of phobias

Answer 15

emotional responses we experience in relation to phobic stimulus fo beyond what is unreasonable

Question 16

what are the behavioural characteristics of phobias

Answer 16

• panic
• avoidance
• endurance

Question 17

expand on panic being a behavioural characteristic to phobias

Answer 17

a phobic person may panic in response to presence of phobia stimuli - can involve range of behaviours e.g. crying and screaming

Question 18

expand on avoidance being behavioural characteristic of having phobia

Answer 18

most phobia sufferers tend to go to lot of effort to avoid phobia stimulus or area which they are associated with

Question 19

expand on endurance being behavioural characteristic of phobia

Answer 19

endurance is alternative to avoidance - sufferer remains in presence of stimulus but continues to experience high anxiety - may be unavoidable

Question 20

what are the cognitive characteristics to phobias

Answer 20

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

Question 21

expand on cognitive distortions being cognitive characteristic to phobia

Answer 21

phobic perceptions of phobic stimulus may be distorted - overestimation of likelihood encountering phobia

Question 22

expand on irrational beliefs being cognitive characteristic to phobia

Answer 22

individual may hold irrational beliefs in relation to stimulus
- kind of belief increases pressure on sufferer to perform well in social situations

Question 23

expand on selective attention to phobic stimulus being cognitive characteristic to phobia

Answer 23

if sufferer can see the stimulus it is hard to look away
- gives best chance of reacting quickly to threat (not useful when fear is irrational)

Question 24

what are all phobias characterised by

Answer 24

characterised by excessive fear and anxiety, disproportionate to any real danger presented by stimulus that has triggered phobia