What are the cognitive characteristics of phobias?
Ways in which people think/perceive.
Selective attention to the phobic stimulus
If sufferer sees the phobia stimulus it is hard to look away from it and will stare at it. They will struggle to concentrate on what they’re doing if phobic object is in the room.
Irrational beliefs
Phobic may hold irrational beliefs on phobic stimulus. For example, social phobias involve beliefs like ‘I must always sound intelligent’. This kind of belief increases pressure on sufferer to perform well in social situations.
Cognitive distortions
Phobic perceptions on phobic stimulus may be distorted. Habitual ways of thinking negative- ignoring positive, all or nothing (absolute thinking ‘has to be perfect’), jumping to conclusions, over-generalisation
