Phobias

• What is a phobia?

  An extreme fear triggered by an object
• What does it mean when a fear is described as disproportionate?

  There is no real danger relating to the trigger
• What are the categories of phobias?

  • Specific Phobias
  • Social Phobia
  • Agoraphobia
• What is a specific phobia?

  Phobia of a specific situation or object
• What is social phobia?

  Phobia of social situations
• What is agoraphobia?

  Phobia of losing control outside
• What are the behavioral characteristics of phobias?

  • Panic in response to the stimulus
  • Avoidance of the phobic stimulus
  • Endurance in the presence of the phobia
• What is a common behavioral response to a phobia?

  Panic in response to the phobic stimulus
• How does avoidance affect daily life for someone with a phobia?

  It can complicate daily life
• What is endurance in the context of phobias?

  Choosing to remain near the phobia
• What are the emotional characteristics of phobias?

  • Unreasonable and irrational emotional responses
  • Disproportionate anxiety
  • Immediate fear upon contact with the phobia
• What type of emotional response is common in phobia sufferers?

  Fear when encountering the phobia
• What cognitive characteristic involves focusing on the phobia?

  Selective attention to the source of the phobia
• What are cognitive distortions in the context of phobias?

  Distorted perception of the phobia
• Who suggested that phobias are learned by association?

  Mowrer (1960)
• How are phobias acquired according to classical conditioning?

  • Neutral stimulus paired with unconditioned stimulus
  • Neutral stimulus becomes conditioned stimulus
  • Unconditioned response becomes conditioned response
  • Generalization to similar objects
• What is negative reinforcement in the context of phobias?

  Avoiding the phobic object reduces anxiety
• What is the real-world application of the 2-process model?

  • Used in exposure therapies
  • Explains benefits of exposure to phobic stimulus
  • Prevents avoidance behavior
• What does the Little Albert study demonstrate?

  A frightening experience can lead to a phobia
• What percentage of people with dental fear experienced trauma according to Ad De Jongh et al (2006)?

  73%
• What does the study by Ad De Jongh et al (2006) confirm?

  Association between stimulus and unconditioned response
• Why do some phobias not follow bad experiences?

  • Common phobias exist without traumatic experiences
  • Not all frightening experiences lead to phobias
• What cognitive aspects are involved in phobias?

  • Phobias involve significant cognitive components
  • Avoidance is not the only response
• What is systematic desensitization?

  • Gradual exposure to the phobic situation
  • Conducted under relaxed conditions
  • Anxiety is extinguished over time
• What is flooding in the context of phobia treatment?

  • Exposure to the phobia at its worst
  • Practicing relaxation during exposure
  • Session continues until anxiety is extinct
• What is the anxiety hierarchy in systematic desensitization?

  • List of situations from least to most frightening
  • Created by client and therapist
• What evidence supports the effectiveness of systematic desensitization?

  • Gilroy et al (2003) study
  • Less fearful than control group at follow-ups
• Why is systematic desensitization suitable for people with learning disabilities?

  It avoids complex cognitive therapies
• What are the advantages of flooding as a treatment?

  • Cost-effective due to fewer sessions
  • Can achieve results in one session
• What did Schumacher et al (2015) find about flooding?

  It is rated more stressful than desensitization
• What ethical issue arises from flooding treatment?

  Causing stress to clients
• What is the overall conclusion about flooding treatment?

  • May be avoided by therapists
  • Requires informed consent from clients
• What is a strength for the Explanation for Phobias using the Behaviourist Approach?

  Real World Application

  • The two-process model is used in exposure therapies and its distinctive element is the idea that phobias are maintained by avoiding the phobic stimulus
  • This is important in why people with phobias benefit from being exposed to the phobic stimulus; once the avoidance behaviour is prevented, it stops to be reinforced by the experience of anxiety reduction and avoidance therefore declines
  • This shows the value of the two-process approach because it identifies a way of treating phobias
• What is a strength for the Explanation for Phobias using the Behaviourist Approach?

  Phobias and Traumatic Experiences

  • The Little Albert study shows how a frightening experience involving a stimulus can lead to a phobia
  • Ad De Jongh et al (2006) found that 73% of people with a fear of dental treatment had experienced a traumatic experience, compared to a control group of people with low dental anxiety where only 21% had experienced a traumatic event
  • This confirms that the association between the stimulus and an unconditioned response does lead to the development of a phobia 
• What is a limitation for the Explanation for Phobias using the Behaviourist Approach?

  Not all Phobias Occur From Bad Experiences

  • However, not all phobias appear following a bad experience and in fact, some common phobias, like snake phobias, occur in populations where very few people have experience of snakes let alone traumatic experiences
  • Additionally, not all frightening experiences lead to phobias
  • This means that the association between phobias and frightening experiences is not as strong as we would expect if behavioural theories provided a complete explanation
• What is a limitation for the Explanation for Phobias using the Behaviourist Approach?

  Cognitive Aspects of Phobias

  • Behavioural explanations, including the two-process model, are geared towards explaining behaviour and in the case of phobias, the key behaviour is avoidance of the phobic stimulus
  • However, we know that phobias are not simply avoidance responses and that they have a significant cognitive component
  • This means that the two-process model does not completely explain the symptoms of phobias
• What is a strength for Systemic Desensitisation as a way of Treating Phobias?

  Evidence for Effectiveness

  • Gilroy et al (2003) followed up 42 people who had systematic desensitation for spider phobia in 3 45-minute sessions
  • At both 3 and 33 months, the systematic desensitisation group were less fearful than a control group treated by relaxation without exposure
  • This means that systematic desensitisation is likely to be helpful for people with phobias
• What is a strength for Systemic Desensitisation as a way of Treating Phobias?

  People with Learning Disabilities

  • Some people requiring treatment for phobias also have a learning disabilities, however the main alternatives to systematic desensitisation are not suitable
  • People with learning disabilities often struggle with cognitive therapies that require complex rational thought and they may also feel distressed by the traumatic experience of flooding
  • This means that systematic desensitisation is often the most appropriate treatment for people with learning disabilities who have phobias
• What is a strength for Flooding as a way of Treating Phobias?

  Cost Effective

  • Clinical effectiveness means how effective a therapy is at tackling symptoms, however when we provide therapies in health systems like the NHS we also need to think about how much they cost
  • Flooding can work in as little as 1 session as opposed to approximately 10 sessions for systematic desensitisation to achieve the same result
  • This means that more people can be treated at the same cost with flooding than with systematic desensitisation or other therapies
• What is a limitation for Flooding as a way of Treating Phobias?

  Traumatic

  • Schumacher et al (2015) found that participants and therapists rated flooding as significantly more stressful than systematic desensitisation
  • This raises the ethical issue for psychologists of knowingly causing stress to their clients although this is not a serious issue provided they obtain informed consent
  • This suggests that overall therapists may avoid using this treatment