Characteristics of Phobias

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  • Created by: aliyahh10
  • Created on: 13-03-21 17:00

Behavioural - Phobias

Panic 

  • may involve range of behaviours eg crying, screaming or running away from phobic stimulus

Avoidance

  • refraining from coming into contact with phobic stimulus
  • can make it hard to go about everyday life, esp if phobic stimulus is often seen eg public places
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Emotional - Phobias

Anxiety and fear

  • fear is immediate experience when a phobic encounters or thinks about the phobic stimulus 
  • fear leads to anxiety

Responses are unreasonable 

  • response is widely disproportionate to the threat posed eg an arachnophobic will have strong emotional response to tiny spider
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Cognitive - Phobias

Selective attention to the phobic stimulus

  • phobic finds it hard to look away from phobic stimulus eg someone who has a fear of beards cannot concentrate on a task if there is a bearded man in the room

Irrational beliefs

  • eg social phobias may involve beliefs such as 'if i blush, people will think im weak' or 'i must always sound intelligent'
  • this irrational belief increases the pressure on the sufferer to perform well in social situations
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