Phobias

Question 1

What does DSM-5 stand for?

Answer 1

Diagnostic Statistical Manual

Question 2

What is a phobia?

Answer 2

An irrational or excessive fear and anxiety of an object, place or situation.

Question 3

When can clinical phobias be diagnosed?

Answer 3

If the anxiety is considerable and impacts the sufferer’s life.

Question 4

What are the different categories of phobias that the DSM-5 recognises?

Answer 4

• Specific
• Social anxiety
• Agoraphobia

Question 5

What is a specific phobia?

Answer 5

A phobia of an object
eg: animals, body parts, situations (flying or injections)

Question 6

What is social anxiety (social phobia)?

Answer 6

A phobia of social situations
eg: public speaking, using a public toilet

Question 7

What is agoraphobia?

Answer 7

The fear of open spaces, being outside or in public spaces

Question 8

What are the behavioural characteristics of phobias?

Answer 8

• Panic (crying etc)
• Avoidance
• Endurance

Question 9

What are the emotional characteristics of phobias?

Answer 9

• Anxiety
• Fear
• Disproportionate emotional responses

Question 10

What are the cognitive characteristics of phobias?

Answer 10

• Irrational beliefs
• Cognitive distortion
• Selective attention to phobic stimulus

Question 11

What is panic as a behavioural characteristic?

Answer 11

When a person could panic in response to a phobic stimulus which may include crying, screaming, running away.

Question 12

How may children display panic differently in the face of a phobic stimulus?

Answer 12

• Freezing
• Clinging
• Having a tantrum

Question 13

What is avoidance as a behavioural characteristic?

Answer 13

Sufferers tend to go to a lot of effort to avoid encountering their phobia which can interfere with work, education and social life.

Question 14

What is endurance as a behavioural characteristic?

Answer 14

Sufferer remains in the presence of the phobic stimulus but continues to experience high levels of anxiety.
This may be unable eg: flying

Question 15

What are phobias classified as?

Answer 15

An anxiety disorder

Question 16

Why are phobias defined as an anxiety disorder?

Answer 16

They involve an emotional response of anxiety and fear.

Question 17

What is fear as an emotional characteristic?

Answer 17

The immediate and unpleasant response we experience when we encounter a phobic stimulus.

Question 18

What is anxiety as an emotional characteristic?

Answer 18

An unpleasant state of high arousal that prevents the suffer from relaxing and experiencing positive emotions.
Can be long term

Question 19

What are unreasonable emotional responses as an emotional characteristic?

Answer 19

When the emotional responses to a phobic stimuli go beyond what is reasonable. Often the fear is disproportionate to the danger posed by the phobic stimulus.

Question 20

What is selective attention to phobic stimulus as a cognitive characteristic?

Answer 20

It can be hard for a sufferer to look away from a phobic stimulus. This gives them a better chance of reacting quickly to a threat but isn’t useful when the fear is irrational.

Question 21

What is irrational beliefs as a cognitive characteristic?

Answer 21

A phobic may hold irrational beliefs in relation to phobic stimuli.
eg: beliefs of social phobias may include “I must always sound intelligent” and can increase pressure to perform well in social situations.

Question 22

What is cognitive distortions as a cognitive characteristic?

Answer 22

A phobic’s perception of the phobic stimulus may be distorted.
eg: someone which ophidiophobia may see snakes as alien or aggressive-looking.