Phobias

• What is a phobia?

  An excessive and irrational fear of an object or situation that poses little or no actual danger
• How are all phobias characterised?

  Excessive fear and anxiety, triggered by an object, place or situation
• What is specific phobia?

  Phobia of an object (such as an animal or body part) or situation (such as flying or having an injection)
• What is social phobia?

  Phobia of a social situation such as public speaking or using a public toilet
• What is social phobia also known as?

  Social anxiety
• What is agoraphobia?


  Phobia of being outside or in a public space
• What are the behavioural characteristics of phobias?

  Panic and avoidance
• What are examples of a panicked response to a stimulus?

  Crying, screamingg, fleeing, freezing, sweating, nausea, shaking hyperventilating
• Sufferers may plan their daily life to avoid coming in contact with the phobic stimulus or avoid it when they see it
• What is an emotional characteristic of phobias?

  Anxiety, irrational fear/panic
• Phobias are classed as anxiety disorders
• The anxiety or fear experienced is much greater than is normal and disproportionate to the threat posed
• Anxiety is an unpleasant state of high arousal. This prevents the sufferer relaxing and makes it very difficult to experience any positive emotion.
• The excessive and unreasonable panic is triggered by the presence or anticipation of a stimulus
• What are the cognitive characteristics of phobias?

  Selective attention, irrational beliefs, cognitive distortions
• What is selective attention?


  When the phobic stimulus is present, the sufferer‘s attention will be focused on it and they ignore other things
• Example of an irrational belief that someone with social phobia will have

  ‘I must always sound intelligent’ or ‘if I blush people will think I’m weak’
• Irrational belief increases the pressure on the sufferer to perform well in social situations