Phobias

Question 1

What is a phobia?

Answer 1

An irrational fear of an object or situation

Question 2

What are the 3 main categories of phobias recognised by the DSM?

Answer 2

• specific phobia - phobia of an object e.g. an animal or situation e.g. flying
• social phobia - phobia of a social situation e.g. public speaking
• agoraphobia - phobia of being outside or in a public place

Question 3

What are behavioural characteristics of phobias?

Answer 3

• panic - may involve crying, creaming or running away
• avoidance - people tend to avoid coming in contact with the phobic stimulus which makes it hard to go about daily life
• endurance - sufferer remains in the presence of the phobic stimulus but continues to experience high levels of anxiety which can be unavoidable at times

Question 4

What are emotional characteristics of phobias?

Answer 4

• anxiety - an unpleasant state of high arousal which prevents sufferer from relaxing
• unreasonable emotional responses

Question 5

What are cognitive characteristics of phobias?

Answer 5

cognitive element concerns the way people with phobias process info about phobic stimuli e.g. :
- selective attention to the phobic stimulus - hard for them to look away which gives the best chance of reacting quickly to a threat but is not useful when fear is irrational
- irrational beliefs - increases the pressure on the sufferer to perform well in social situations
- cognitive distortions - phobic’s perceptions of the phobic stimulus may be distorted