characteristics

• According to Mind, 1 in 4 adults suffer with a mental health problem each year in the UK.

  In 2009, the following rates were reported:

  • Phobias – 2.6%
  • Depression – 2.6%
  • OCD – 1.3%

  A ‘clinical’ disorder is one that affects a person’s day to day life over an extended period of time.
• phobias


  • Phobias are a type of anxiety disorder
  • Categorised as having excessive fear and anxiety which is triggered by an object, situation or place
  • The extent of the fear is out of proportion to any real danger which is presented by the phobic stimulus.
• diagnostic criteria


  • Fear of the phobic stimulus must continue for longer than 6 months
  • People experience an anxiety response if they’re exposed to the phobic stimulus or in anticipation of the phobic stimulus.
  • The anxiety is out of proportion to the actual danger or threat in the situation, after cultural context has been taken into account
  • Sufferers go out of their way to avoid the phobic stimulus
  • The phobia disrupts the functioning of the individual
• types of phobias 


  • Specific phobias – phobia of an object, situation or place e.g. fear of flying or of having an injection
  • Social anxiety (social phobia) – fear of a social situations which will lead to avoidance of them e.g public speaking
  • Agoraphobia – phobia of being in public places which are difficult to get out of or where you might not get help e.g being in a crowd or being in a lift
• behavioural characteristics 


  • Changing behaviour (when faced with feared object / situation) due to high levels of anxiety e.g. crying, screaming, running away, freezing 
  • Avoidance e.g.  avoiding groups of people
• emotional characteristics


  • Fear – can be excessive and unreasonable
  • Feelings of anxiety and panic
  • Emotions are triggered by feared object or situation
• cognitive characteristics


  • Irrational thinking e.g. social phobia – ‘’I must always sound clever’’
  • Selective attention – find it hard not to concentrate on phobic object / situation
  • Resistance to rational arguments e.g. flying is the safest form of transport