Phobias

Question 1

Phobia

Answer 1

an irrational fear of an object or situation

Question 2

Behavioural

Answer 2

ways in which people act

Question 3

Emotional

Answer 3

related to a person’s feelings or mood

Question 4

Cognitive

Answer 4

refers to the process of ‘knowing’, including thinking, reasoning, remembering and believing

Question 5

DSM-5 categories of phobia

Answer 5

• specific phobia - phobia of an object or a situation
• social anxiety - phobia of a social situation
• agoraphobia - phobia of being outside or in a public place

Question 6

Behavioural characteristics of phobias

Answer 6

• panic
• avoidance
• endurance

Question 7

panic

Answer 7

in response to the presence of the phobic stimulus - crying, screaming, running away

Question 8

avoidance

Answer 8

tend to go to a lot of effort to prevent coming into contact with the phobic stimulus

Question 9

endurance

Answer 9

alternative behavioural response to avoidance is endurance - person chooses to remain in the presence of the phobic stimulus

Question 10

Emotional characteristics of phobias

Answer 10

• anxiety
• fear
• emotional response is unreasonable

Question 11

anxiety

Answer 11

prevents a person relaxing and difficult to experience any positive reaction

Question 12

fear

Answer 12

immediate and extremely unpleasant response we experience when we encounter or think about a phobic stimulus

Question 13

emotional response is unreasonable

Answer 13

anxiety or fear is much greater than is normal and disproportionate to any threat posed

Question 13

Cognitive characteristics of phobias

Answer 13

• selective attention to the phobic stimulus
• irrational beliefs
• cognitive distortions

Question 14

selective attention to the phobic stimulus

Answer 14

keeping our attention on something really dangerous is a good thing as it gives us the best chance of reacting quickly to a threat, but this not as useful

Question 15

irrational beliefs

Answer 15

a person with a phobia may hold unfounded thoughts in relation to phobic stimulus

Question 16

cognitive distortions

Answer 16

the perceptions with a phobia may be inaccurate and unrealistic