Phobias, Depression & OCD Flashcards
Phobias - Behavioural
1) Panic - crying, screaming or running away from the phobic stimulus.
2) Avoidance - effort to prevent contact with the phobic stimulus - can make it hard to go about everyday life.
3) Endurance - alternative behaviour to avoidance - remaining with phobic stimulus & continuing to experience anxiety.
Phobias - Emotional
1) Anxiety - unpleasant state of high arousal. Prevents individual relaxing makes it very difficult to experience positive emotion.
2) Fear - immediate response we experience when we encounter/think about a phobic stimulus.
3) Emotional response is unreasonable - Disproportionate to the threat posed, e.g. a person with arachnophobia will have a strong emotional response to a tiny spider.
Phobias - Cognitive
1) Selective attention to the phobic stimulus - A person with a phobia finds it hard to look away from the phobic stimulus.
2) Irrational Beliefs - Phobias may involve beliefs e.g. ‘if I blush people will think I’m weak’.
3) Cognitive distortions - Unrealistic thinking, e.g. belly buttons appear ugly.
Depression - Behavioural
1) Activity levels - Ppl with depression have reduced levels of energy making them lethargic e.g. cannot get out of bed.
2) Disruption to sleep and eating behaviour - reduced sleep (insomnia) or increased (hypersomnia). Appetite & weight may increase or decrease.
3) Aggression and self-harm - Depression is associated with irritability and this may extend to aggression & self-harm.
Depression - Emotional
1) Lowered mood - Ppl with depression describe themselves as ‘worthless’ or ‘empty’.
2) Anger - Such emotions lead to aggression or self-harming behaviour.
3) Lowered self-esteem - The person likes themselves less, even self-loathing.
Depression - Cognitive
1) Poor concentration - find themselves unable to stick with a task, or might find simple decision-making difficult.
2) Attention to the negative - a bias towards focusing on negative aspects of current situations & recalling unhappy (instead of happy) memories.
3) Absolutist thinking - ‘Black-and-white thinking’, when a situation is unfortunate it is seen as an absolute disaster.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - Behavioural
1) Compulsions are repetitive - Actions carried out repeatedly in a ritualistic way, e.g. hand-washing.
2) Compulsions reduce anxiety - Anxiety may be created by obsessions, or just anxiety alone.
3) Avoidance - OCD is managed by avoiding situations that trigger anxiety, e.g. avoid rubbish bins because they have germs.
OCD - Emotional
1) Anxiety & Distress - Obsessive thoughts are unpleasant and frightening, and the anxiety that goes with these can be overwhelming.
2) Depression - Low mood and lack of enjoyment.
3) Guilt and disgust - Irrational guilt, for example over a minor moral issue, or disgust which is directed towards oneself or something external like dirt.
OCD - Cognitive
1) Obsessive thoughts - 90% of ppl with OCD have recurring intrusive thoughts e.g. about being contaminated by dirt or germs.
2) Cognitive coping strategies - Some ppl with OCD use strategies to cope e.g. meditation.
3) Insight into excessive anxiety - Awareness that thoughts & behaviour are irrational. May have catastrophic thoughts and be hypervigilant.
