phobias

• what is the DSM-5 and what is it used for?

  diagnostic statistical manual, used by doctors to diagnose mental disorders. we are now of version 5, so we call it DSM-5
• what does the DSM-5 define a phobia as?

  an irrational fear of an object of situation
• what are the levels we can experience anxiety?

  behaviourally - how we act. for example, freeze or flight

  emotionally - how we feel about it. for example, feeling panic

  cognitively - how we think about it. for example, what we perceive or believe
• how does a person with a phobia experience anxiety?

  out of proportion to the actual threat. the phobia interferes with their ability to function and can become chronic or a disabling response
• what are the categories of phobias that the DSM-5 recognises?

  specific phobia

  social anxiety (social phobia)

  agoraphobia
• what is a specific phobia?

  intense fear of a particular object or situation. for example, animals like spiders/dogs, situations like flying/enclosed spaces (claustrophobia), natural environment like heights or blood-injection types like injections, needles etc.
• what is a social anxiety/social phobia?

  intense fear of a social situation based on fear of exposure/humiliation. for example, fear of eating in restaurants, using public toilets etc. because the sufferer is afraid someone will see them expressing their fear by a trembling hand/blushing etc. and think badly of them
• what is agoraphobia?

  intense fear of being in a public space. for example, shopping malls or crowded streets etc. but it manifests itself as a fear of leaving the house. the sufferer fears dying or anything as bad, and as a result is afraid of having a panic attack where they don't feel safe. safety is the main priority rather than embarrassment
• what are the behavioural characteristics of phobias?

  panic - crying/screaming etc. or a child may freeze, cling or throw a tantrum

  avoidance - avoid the stimulus that triggers their phobia, like not going in a room with a spider

  endurance - remaining in the presence of their phobic stimulus and continues to experience high levels of anxiety, like when flying
• what are the emotional characteristics of phobias?

  anxiety - constant worry about the stimulus and which prevents sufferer from relaxing/anything positive

  fear - the immediate fight or flight response when sufferer comes in contacts or even thinks about the stimulus
• what are the cognitive characteristics of phobias

  selective attention to the stimulus - the sufferer finds it difficult to look away from the stimulus (being unable to look away from a small spider)

  irrational beliefs - overthinking what their phobia could do to them (people with a social phobia may feel that people will strongly disapprove if they blush)

  cognitive distortions - how the sufferer perceives the stimulus may be distorted like a spider has 'huge, aggressive fangs'