Phobias

Question 1

What is characterized by uncontrollable extreme emotional levels of anxiety?

Answer 1

Phobias

Phobias are a type of anxiety disorder characterized by irrational fears due to the presence or anticipation of feared stimuli.

Question 2

What are the main origins of phobias?

Answer 2

Childhood experiences

Phobias mostly originate from childhood experiences that shape emotional responses.

Question 3

What type of phobia involves a fear of specific objects or environments?

Answer 3

Specific Phobias

Specific phobias can include fear of animals (e.g., cynophobia for dogs) or other specific situations.

Question 4

List the four subtypes of Specific Phobias.

Answer 4

• Animals
• Natural environment
• Situational
• Blood/injection/injury

These subtypes categorize specific fears based on the nature of the feared object or situation.

Question 5

What is the response when a person experiences panic in a phobic situation?

Answer 5

Screaming or running away

Panic responses can include screaming, running away, or other immediate actions to escape the feared situation.

Question 6

What type of phobia involves being overly anxious in social situations due to fear of judgment?

Answer 6

Social Phobias

Social phobias involve a perception of being judged or feeling inadequate in social interactions.

Question 7

What are the three subtypes of Social Phobias?

Answer 7

• Performance anxiety
• Interaction anxiety
• Generalized social anxiety

These subtypes reflect different contexts in which social fears manifest.

Question 8

What is Agoraphobia?

Answer 8

Fear of being in public places where escape is difficult

Agoraphobia involves anxiety about being in situations where escape might be hard, not necessarily a fear of being outside.

Question 9

True or False: Cognitive distortions can contribute to the experience of anxiety and phobias.

Answer 9

True

Cognitive distortions lead to negative thought patterns that can exacerbate feelings of anxiety and fear.

Question 10

Fill in the blank: Phobias are a type of _______.

Answer 10

anxiety disorder

Phobias are classified under anxiety disorders due to their impact on emotional well-being.

Question 11

What does avoidance behaviour in phobias lead to?

Answer 11

Increased fear and anxiety

Avoidance behavior often reinforces the phobia, making the fear more intense over time.

Question 12

Emotional characteristics

Answer 12

-Anxiety+Fear: immediate, intense fear when encountering or anticipating phobic stimuli.
-Unreasonable emotional response: fear is disproportionate to the actual danger posed e.g. extreme panic when seeing a small spider.

Question 13

Behavioural characteristics of phobias

Answer 13

Panic: e.g. crying, screaming etc in response to phobic object/ situation.
Avoidance: individual avoids phobic stimulus, may interfere with daily life e.g. not enter room if there is a spider in there

Question 14

Cognitive characteristics of phobias

Answer 14

Cognitive distortions: phobic stimulus perceived in an exaggerated or distorted way e.g. seeing a spider as much bigger/ more threatening than it is.
Selective attention: hyper focus on the phobic object- hard to focus on anything else.