Behavioural characteristics of phobias

• Panic- a person may panic in response to a phobia. Panic involves a range of behaviours such as crying, screaming or running away. Children react slightly different, they may freeze, cling or have a meltdown.
• Avoidance-unless a person is making a conscious effort to face their fear, most people try to avoid coming into contact with the phobia they fear which could make daily life hard. For example, if a person has a fear of public toilet’s they may limit the time they spend in a public place which could interfere with work, education and social life.
• Endurance-this is the alternative to avoidance. The sufferer with remain in presence of the phobia stimulus but will still experience high levels of anxiety. This could be an unavoidable in some situation for example a person who has an extreme fear of flying.