Phobias

• What is a phobia?

  An irrational fear of an object or situation.
• Behavioural characteristics of phobias:

  1. Panic.
  2. Avoidance.
  3. Endurance.
• Panic:


  May involve a range of behaviours such as crying, screaming or running away from the phobic stimulus.
• Avoidance:

  Considerable effort to prevent contact with the phobic stimulus. This can make it hard to go about everyday life.
• Endurance:

  An alternative behaviour to avoidance. Involves remaining with the phobic stimulus and continuing to experience anxiety.
• Emotional characteristics of phobias:

  1. Anxiety.
  2. Fear.
  3. Emotional response is unreasonable.
• Anxiety:


  An unpleasant state of high arousal. Prevents an individual relaxing and makes it very difficult to experience positive emotion.
• Fear:

  The immediate response we experience when we encounter or think about a phobic stimulus.
• Emotional response is unreasonable:

  Disproportionate to the threat posed, eg. a person with arachnophobia will have a strong emotional response to a tiny spider.
• Cognitive characteristics of phobias:

  1. Selective attention to the phobic stimulus.
  2. Irrational beliefs.
  3. Cognitive distortions.
• Selective attention to the phobic stimulus:

  A person with a phobia finds it hard to look away from the phobic stimulus.
• Irrational beliefs:

  Phobias may involve beliefs eg. 'if I blush people will think I'm weak'.
• Cognitive distortions:

  Unrealistic thinking, eg. belly buttons appear ugly.