phobias

Cards (27)

  • Phobias
    An irrational fear of an object, place or situation that causes a constant avoidance of said object, place or situation
  • Phobias
    • Characterised by the excessive fear and anxiety caused by the object, place or situation
  • Categories of phobias (DSM-5)
    • Specific phobia
    • Social phobia (Social anxiety)
    • Agoraphobia
  • Specific phobia
    Phobia of a specific object or situation, e.g. a needle, spider, or flying
  • Social phobia (Social anxiety)
    Phobia of social situations, e.g. public speaking
  • Agoraphobia
    Phobia of being outside
  • Symptoms of phobias
    • Behavioural characteristics
    • Emotional characteristics
    • Cognitive characteristics
  • Behavioural characteristics
    • Panic: Crying, screaming, running away
    • Avoidance: Avoiding the phobic stimulus
    • Endurance: Remaining in the presence of the phobia but suffering high anxiety
  • Emotional characteristics
    • Emotional responses: Unreasonable and irrational
    • Anxiety: Unpleasant state of high arousal
    • Fear: Immediate emotion when in contact with the phobia
  • Cognitive characteristics
    • Selective attention to the source of the phobia
    • Cognitive distortions: Distorted perception of the phobic object
  • Behaviourist approach
    Explains all behaviour as observable and learned
  • The behaviourist approach focuses on explaining the behaviours created by the phobia and does not explain the cognitive or emotional features of phobias
  • Two-process model

    Explanation for the onset and persistence of disorders that create anxiety, including phobias
  • Acquisition of phobia by classical conditioning
    1. Phobic object is a neutral stimulus
    2. Paired with an unconditioned stimulus that produces fear
    3. Neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus that produces the fear response
    4. Conditioning generalises to similar objects
  • Maintenance of phobia by operant conditioning
    Avoidance of phobic object reduces anxiety, which reinforces the avoidance behaviour
  • Example of acquisition of a phobia
    • Little Albert experiment
  • The Little Albert experiment would not be conducted today due to ethical guidelines and the psychological harm caused
  • Strengths of the two-process model
    • Real-world application
    • Supports by Little Albert study
  • Limitations of the two-process model
    • Does not account for cognitive aspects of phobias
    • Not all phobias follow a bad experience
  • Evolutionary theory may better explain some phobias that would have been dangerous to our ancestors
  • Systematic desensitisation
    1. Anxiety hierarchy
    2. Relaxation techniques
    3. Gradual exposure to phobic stimulus
  • Anxiety hierarchy for arachnophobia
    • Imagine spider
    • Look at pictures
    • Enter room with spider in box
    • Look at spider in box
    • Hold box
    • Watch someone else hold spider
    • Allow spider to walk close/on you
    • Hold spider
  • Strengths of systematic desensitisation
    • Proven successful with range of phobias
    • Effective for patients with vivid imagination
    • Fast treatment
    • Can use virtual reality
    • Suitable for those with learning disabilities
  • Limitations of systematic desensitisation
    • Less effective for evolutionary phobias
    • Doesn't treat cause, only behaviour
    • Virtual reality less effective than real stimulus
    • Difficulty applying to real-life situations
  • Flooding
    1. Immediate exposure to phobic stimulus
    2. Designed to stop phobic response through extinction
    3. Theoretically results in counter-conditioning
  • Strengths of flooding
    • Cost-effective
    • Works well with 'simple' phobias
  • Limitations of flooding
    • Can be very traumatic for patient
    • Less effective with complex phobias