characteristics

• what is meant by panic

  crying, screaming, or running away. - children slightly different, freezing, clinging or having a tantrum
• what are the behavioural characteristics of phobias

  panic

  avoidance

  endurance
• what is meant by avoidance

  a conscious effort to prevent coming into contact with the phobic stimulus. - can make it hard to go about everyday life
• what is meant by endurance

  when the person chooses to remain in the presence of the phobic stimulus.
• what are the emotional characteristics of phobias

  anxiety

  fear

  emotional response is unreasonable
• what is meant by anxiety

  an unpleasant state of high arousal
• what is meant by fear

  immediate and extrememly unpleasant response we experience when we encounter or think about a phobic stimulus. more intense but shorter time than anxiety.
• what is meant when the emotional response is unreasonable

  the anxiety or fear is much greater than is 'normal' and disproportionate to any threat posed
• what are the cognitive characteristics of phobias

  selective attention to the phobic stimulus

  irrational beliefs

  cognitive distortions
• what is meant by selective attention to the phobic stimulus

  keeping our attention on something really dangerous is a good thing as it gives us the best chance at reacting quickly to a threat not so useful when the fear is irrational
• what is meant by irrational beliefs

  unfounded thoughts in relation to a phobic stimuli . increases pressure on the person to preform well in social situations
• what is meant by cognitive distortions

  the perceptions of a person with a phobia may be inaccurate and unrealistic