Overview of Phobias

• Phobias


  Irrational fears that produce an avoidance of the feared object or situation
• Types of phobias (according to DSM5)


  • Specific Phobias
  • Social Phobia
  • Agoraphobia
• Specific Phobias


  Include animal phobias and situational type phobias e.g. planes, lifts etc.
• Social Phobia


  Excessive fear of social situations, for example eating in public or going into a public lavatory
• Agoraphobia


  Fear of public places, thought to be the most serious of all phobias. Many people with agoraphobia are also prone to panic attacks when they go into public places.
• Behavioural characteristics of phobias


  • Panic
  • Avoidance
  • Endurance
• Panic


  In the presence of the phobic stimulus. May involve behaviours like crying, screaming or running away
• Avoidance


  Unless the sufferer is making a conscious effort to face their fear, they tend to go to a lot of effort to avoid coming into contact with the phobic stimulus
• Endurance


  The alternative to avoidance, in which a sufferer remains in the presence of the phobic stimulus but continues to experience high levels of anxiety
• Emotional characteristics of phobias


  • Anxiety
  • Inappropriate emotional responses
• Anxiety


  Prevents the sufferer relaxing and makes it very difficult to experience any positive emotion
• Inappropriate emotional responses


  The emotional responses experienced in relation to phobic stimuli are too extreme for the situation and may be disproportionate to the danger posed by the phobic stimuli
• Cognitive characteristics of phobias


  • Decrease in concentration
  • Irrational beliefs
• Decrease in concentration


  People with phobias often find it very difficult to concentrate and therefore they have an inability to complete tasks when the phobic object or situation is around
• Irrational beliefs


  A phobic may hold irrational beliefs in relation to phobic stimuli, for example, social phobias can involve beliefs like 'if I blush people will think I'm weak.' This kind of belief increases the pressure on the sufferer to perform well in social situations