Phobias, depression and OCD.

• behavioural characteristics of phobias

  1. panic, e.g. screaming, crying or running away from the phobic stimulus.
  2. avoidance: considerable effort to avoid coming into contact with the phobic stimulus. can make it hard to go about everyday life especially if the phobic stimulus is often seen, e.g. public places.
• emotional characteristics of phobias

  1. anxiety & fear: fear is immediate response when a phobic encounters or thinks about the stimulus. fear causes anxiety.
  2. unreasonable responses: widely disproportionate to the threat posed, e.g. an arachnophobic will have a strong emotional response to a tiny spider.
• cognitive characteristics of phobias

  1. specific attention to the phobic stimulus: phobic finds it hard to look away from the phobic stimulus.
  2. irrational beliefs, e.g. social phonics may involve beliefs such as 'I must always sounds intelligent'
• behavioural characteristics of OCD

  1. compulsions: actions that are carried out repeatedly, e.g. hand washing. repeated in a ritualistic way to reduce anxiety.
  2. avoidance: OCD managed by avoiding situations that trigger anxiety, e.g. sufferers who wash repeatedly may avoid coming into contact with germs.
• emotional characteristics of OCD

  1. anxiety and distress: obsessive thoughts are unpleasant and frightening. the anxiety that goes with this can be overwhelming.
  2. guilt and disgust: irrational guilt, e.g. over a minor moral issue, or disgust directed towards oneself or something external like dirt.
• cognitive characteristics of OCD

  1. obsessive thoughts: 90% of OCD sufferers have obsessive thoughts, e.g. recurring intrusive thoughts about being contaminated by germs or dirt.
  2. insight into excessive anxiety: awareness that thoughts and behaviour are irrational. in spite of this, sufferers experience catastrophic thoughts and are hyper-vigilant of their obsession.
• behavioural characteristics of depression

  1. activity levels: sufferers or depression have reduced levels of energy making them lethargic. in.extreme cases this may be so severe they cannot get out of bed.
  2. disruption to sleep and eating behaviour. sufferers may experience reduced sleep (insomnia) or increased need for sleep (hypersomnia). appetite may increase or decrease, leading to weight gain or loss.
• emotional characteristics of depression

  1. lowered mood: more pronounced than the daily experience of feeling lethargic or sad. sufferers may describe themselves as 'worthless' or 'empty'.
  2. anger: such emotions can lead to occasional aggression or self-harming behaviour.
• cognitive characteristics of depression:

  1. poor concentration: sufferers may find themselves unable to stick with a task as they usually would, or may find simple decision making difficult.
  2. absolutist thinking: 'black and white thinking', when a situation is unfortunate it is seen as an absolute disaster.