Specific phobias chap 10

• Specific phobias: a persistent, intense, irrational fear of a specific object or event
• Biological factor: a factor that relates to the physiological functioning of the body
• GABA: the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the nervous system, associated with anxiety, specific phobias and parkinsons disease
• Glutamate: the main excretory neurotransmitter in the nervous system, involved with learning and memory
• Dysfunctional GABA system: a failure to produce, release or receive the correct amount of gamma aminobutyric acid
• psychological factor: a factor that relates to the functioning of the brain and the mind, including cognitive and affective processes such as thought patterns and memory
• Behavioural model: phobias are learned through experience and may be developed, sustained or modified by environmental consequences such as rewards or punishment
• Precipitate: trigger the onset of exacerbation of a mental disorder
• Perpetuation: prolonging of the occurrence of a mental disorder and preventing recovery
• cognitive bias: the tendency to think in a way that involves errors of judgement and faulty decision making
• Memory bias: distorted thinking that either enhances or impairs the recall of a memory or its content
• Catastrophic thinking: a cognitive thinking that involves overestimating and exaggerating the worst possible outcomes to situations even though they are unlikely to occur
• Social factor: a factor that relates to the social components of a persons environment
• Specific environmental trigger: an object or circumstance that probably caused a direct, negative traumatic experience associated with extreme fear or discomfort, which then acts as a cue for future phobic fear responses
• Stigma: the feeling of shame or disgrace associated with a personal characteristic that indicates you belong to a culturally devalued group in society, this can be real or imagined
• evidence based intervention: a treatment shown to be effective in valid and reliable research studies
• Biological intervention: a treatment targeting physiological mechanisms believed to contribute to a condition
• Benzodiazepine: a type of agonist drug that works on the central nervous system to make the post-synaptic neuron less likely to fire, which regulates anxiety
• Agonist: a type of drug that mimics the action of a neurotransmitter that binds to the same receptor by stopping the presynaptic neuron from firing
• Breathing retraining: an anxiety management technique that involves teaching someone with a specific phobia how to control their breathing in the presence of their phobic stimulus
• Psychological intervention: treatment that uses activities such as psychotherapy to modify thoughts, feelings and behaviours
• Psychotherapy: any talking therapy designed to help people with a broad range of mental health issues
• Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT): a common intervention consisting of a range of cognitive and behavioural therapies and learning principles to help people identify and change unhelpful thought processes, feelings and behaviours to more helpful ones
• Synaptic desensitisation: a method for treatment phobias in which the phobic stimulus is progressively introduced while the person uses relaxation techniques until their fear is replaced by a relaxation response
• Relaxation technique: any method or procedure that helps to induce a physiological and psychological relaxation response
• Fear hierarchy: a list of anxiety-inducing experiences relating to the patients phobia, in order from easiest to confront, to the most difficult to confront
• Social intervention: an intervention designed to increase social support for people with a mental illness
• Psychoeducation: educating people diagnosed with mental health conditions and their family members about the disorder and possible treatment options