Phobias Flashcards
(21 cards)
What is a phobia
Instances of irrational fear that produce a conscious avoidance of feared objects/situations
What are the types of phobias
Social phobia -social or public situations
Acrophobia - heights
Cancer phobia - developing cancer
Necrophobia -death
What are the emotional characteristics of phobias
Fear that is marked and persistent and is likely to be unreasonable
E.g anxiety and panic
What are the behavioural characteristics of phobias
When a person with a phobia is faced with the object or situation they try to avoid it
E.g Freeze or faint
This causes distress to everyday activities
What are cognitive behaviours of phobias
Irrational nature of the person’s thinking and resistance to irrational arguments
They are aware that the fear is unreasonable this distinguishes phobia from delusional mental illness e.g schizophrenia
What is the treatment for phobias through the behavioural approach
Behavioural therapy
What is the behavioural approach
The behavioural approach explains abnormal behaviour including phobias as the result of learnt behaviour
What is the purpose of behavioural therapy
Seeks to ‘re-learn’ behaviours by creating new associations and reinforcing more positive behaviours
What are the types of behavioural therapy ?
Systematic de-sensitisation (SD)
Flooding
What are the steps for SD
1)The patient is taught relaxation techniques and how to practice them e.g breathing exercises
2)A hierarchy of fears is created (low to high )
3)Least fearful stimulus is imagined whilst practicing relaxation techniques
4)Once this stage is mastered ,move on to the next in hierarchy
5 )All stages are systematically mastered,so the fear is overcome
Example of using SD to overcome heights
1)taught breathing exercises
2)hierarchy of the fears is created
going on stairs that are close together in gap that go up
Stairs that have a bigger gap between the them
Escalators
Rollercoasters
Bungee jumping /ziplining
Going on a plane
3)all theses stages are mastered so the fear is overcome
How does the fact that SD works seen as a strength
P:one strength of SD is that it works
E:evidence for this is that a researcher found that 75% of patients with phobias responded to SD as it lies with the actual contact with the feared stimulus
E:this shows the effectiveness of SD to treat phobia therefore it is reliable
Why is SD easy to carry out seen as a strength
P:one strength of SD is that it is relatively easy to carry out
E:many patients stick with using SD as it is time and cost effective
E:this shows that it is used on a daily basis and therefore has RWA
Why doesn’t SD work for everyone as a weakness
P:one weakness of SD is that it doesn’t work for everyone
E:evidence for this is that 25% of patients can’t be treated with SD to overcome their phobia
E: this therefore questions the reliability of using SD to treat phobias
Why is certain phobias only seen as a tip of the iceberg a weakness
P:Another weakness of SD is that with certain phobias the symptoms are only the tip of the iceberg
E:evidence for this is that SD only treats symptoms not the cause therefore the symptoms may resurface in another form or fear
E:this questions the validity as its only substituting the symptom rather than treating the phobia
What are the characteristics of flooding
Intense exposure rather than gradual exposure
Still uses relaxation techniques such as breathing exercises
Rapid exposure leads to high release of adrenaline but this gradual decreases
Adrenaline is linked to the flight/fight response
Completed in vivo (actual exposure) or in vitro (virtual reality)
why is flooding an effective treatment if people stick to it
P:it is an effective treatment if people stick to it in comparison to CBT
E:evidence for this is a researcher found that both SD and flooding were effective but were more effective when treating phobias .
E.this shows that flooding is an effective therapy therefore shows reliability
why isn’t flooding for everyone a weakness
P:flooding is not for everyone
E:evidence for this is that it’s a highly traumatic procedure and patients are aware of this but they may quit during the treatment which reduces the effectiveness
E:this shows that individual differences in responding to flooding may therefore limit the effectiveness of the therapy showing it lacks representation as it can’t be generalised to the wider population
why is flooding and SD success due to exposure rather than relaxation a weakness
P:another weakness of flooding is that it may be that the success of both SD and Flooding is more to do with the exposure rather than the relaxation
E:evidence for this is that a researcher found no difference in the effectiveness suggesting that the active ingredient in SD or flooding may simply be the generation of hopeful expectancies that the phobia may be overcome .
E:this shows that the cognitive factors are more important than the behavioural approach therefore this shows a lack in validity
What are the similarities in the behavioural approach to the treatment of phobias
Both use relaxation techniques
Both can be used in vivo (actual exposure ) or in vitro (virtual reality)
Both deal with behavioural reaction but necessarily the cause
Exposure is more important than the relaxation techniques used
What are the differences in the behavioural approach to the treatment of phobias
Flooding is arguably more traumatic
Flooding is more of an effective method of therapy
Flooding is instant
SD takes more time to complete
