characteristics

• DSM-5 categories of phobias

  • specific phobia: phobia of an object e.g animal, body part or situation
  • social anxiety / social phobia: phobia of a social situation e.g public speaking / using a public toilet
  • agoraphobia: phobia of being outside or in a public space
• Behavioural categories ( P A E )

  Panic: person may panic in response to exposure to the phobic stimulus. behaviours like screaming, crying, freezing etc

  Avoidance: tend to go through a lot of effort to avoid coming into contact with the phobic stimulus - 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 - sometimes it may be unavoidable e.g person on flight with a fear of flying
• Emotional categories ( A U-R )

  Anxiety: emotional response of anxiety and fear to phobias. it prevents the sufferer from relaxing and experiencing positive emotions. anxiety can be long term - fear is the immediate response to stimulus

  Unreasonable responses: emotional responses to phobic stimuli are exaggerated. e.g a very strong emotional reaction to a tiny, harmless spider - wildly disproportionate to the danger actually posed by the spider
• Cognitive characteristics ( S I C )

  • Selective attention to stimulus: if sufferer can see the phobic stimulus it is hard to look away from it. keeping attention on something dangerous is good as we can react quickly to threats >>> this is not the case if the fear is irrational
  • irrational beliefs: irrational beliefs in relation to phobis stimuli e.g social phobias can involve beliefs like "I must always sound intelligent" - increases pressure on the sufferer
  • cognitive distortions: sufferers perceptions of the phobic stimulus may be distorted e.g an omphalophobic will see belly buttons as ugly