Characteristics

• Phobia

  an irrational fear of an object or situation
• Behavioural Characteristics of Phobias

  Panic - crying, screaming, running away or freezing

  Avoidance - go to a lot of effort to avoid coming in to contact with the phobic stimulus. Can make it hard to go about daily life

  Endurance - chooses to remain in the presence of the phobic stimulus
• Emotional Characteristics of Phobias

  Anxiety - a state of high arousal that prevents the person relaxing

  Fear - immediate and unpleasant response that lasts for shorter periods than anxiety

  Unreasonable emotional response - anxiety or fear is greater than normal
• Cognitive Characteristics of Phobias

  Selective attention - the person only can see the phobic stimulus

  Irrational beliefs - they may hold unfounded thoughts in relation to the phobic stimuli

  Cognitive distortions - their perception may be inaccurate and unrealistic