Characteristics

• Phobia


  An irrational fear of an object or situation
• All phobias

  • Characterised by excessive fear and anxiety triggered by an object, place or situation
  • Extent of fear is out of proportion
  • Compared to any real danger presented by the phobic stimulus
• Specific phobia


  Phobia of an object (animal or body part), or a situation (flying or injection)
• Social anxiety (social phobia)


  Phobia of a social situation (public speaking or public toilet)
• Agoraphobia


  Phobia of being outside
• Behavioural characteristics of phobias


  • Panic
  • Avoidance
  • Endurance
• Panic


  • May panic in response to presence of phobic stimuli
  • Screaming, crying or running away
• Avoidance


  • Sufferer may make extra effort to avoid coming into contact with phobic stimulus
  • May therefore make it hard for them to go through their daily life
• Endurance


  • Alternative to avoidance
  • Sufferer remains in the presence of phobic stimulus but continues to experience high levels of anxiety
• Cognitive characteristics of phobias


  • Selective attention to the phobic stimulus
  • Irrational beliefs
  • Cognitive distortions
• Selective attention to the phobic stimulus


  • Find it hard to look away from stimulus
  • Keeping their attention on something dangerous give them the best chance of reacting quickly to a threat
  • Not useful when fear was irrational
• Irrational beliefs


  May hold irrational beliefs about phobic stimulus
• Cognitive distortions


  Perceptions on phobic stimulus may be distorted
• Emotional characteristics of phobias


  • Anxiety
  • Emotional responses are unreasonable
  • Fear
• Anxiety


  • An unpleasant state of high arousal
  • Prevents sufferer from relaxing and makes it difficult to experience any positive emotion
  • Anxiety is usually a long-term emotion
• Emotional response is unreasonable 


  • Go beyond what is reasonable
  • The fear and anxiety produced is disproportionate to the threat posed by the phobic stimulus
• Fear


  The immediate and unpleasant response we experience when we encounter or think about the stimulus