Phobias

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  • Created by: gemshort
  • Created on: 14-11-17 21:37
What is a phobia?
An irrational fear of an object or situation
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What are the behavioural characteristics of phobias?
Panic, avoidance and endurance
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Panic
A phobic person may panic in response to the presence of the phobic stimulus. This can involve crying, screaming or running away.
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Avoidance
Unless the sufferer is making a conscious effort to face their fear, they tend to go to a lot of effort to avoid the phobic stimulus
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Endurance
The sufferer remains in the presence of the phobic stimulus but continues to experience high levels of anxiety
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What are the emotional characteristics of phobias?
Anxiety and unreasonable emotional responses
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Anxiety
Phobias are classed as anxiety disorders: by definition they involve an emotional response of anxiety and fear. Anxiety is an unpleasant state of high arousal which prevents you from relaxing and makes it difficult to experience positive emotions
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Emotional responses are unreasonable
The emotional responses we experience in relation to the phobic stimulus go beyond what is reasonable
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What are the cognitive characteristics of phobias?
Selective attention to the phobic stimulus, irrational beliefs and cognitive distortions
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Selective attention to the phobic stimulus
If a sufferer can see the phobic stimulus it is hard to look away from it
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Irrational beliefs
A phobic may hold irrational beliefs in relation to the phobic stimuli, for example, social phobias can involve beliefs like 'I must always sound intelligent'. This increases pressure on the sufferer to perform well in social situations
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Cognitive distortions
The individual's perception of the phobic stimulus may be distorted, for example, an ophidiophobe may see snakes as alien or aggressive
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The two-process model
Henry Mowrer (1960) proposed that phobias are acquired through classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning
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Acquisition of phobias through classical conditioning
Classical conditioning involves learning to associate something of which we initially have no fear (NS) with something that already triggers a fear (UCS)
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Maintenance of phobias through operant conditioning
Mowrer suggested that when we avoid a phobic stimulus, we successfully escape the fear and anxiety we would have suffered if we had remained there. This reduction in fear reinforces the avoidance behaviour and so the phobia is maintained
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What is systematic desensitisation?
SD is a behavioural therapy designed to gradually reduce phobic anxiety through the principle of classical conditioning. It involves three steps: an anxiety hierarchy, relaxation and exposure
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What is counter conditioning?
A new response to the phobic stimulus is learned as the stimulus is paired with relaxation instead of anxiety
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What is reciprocal inhibition?
It is impossible to be afraid and relaxed at the same time so one emotion prevents the other
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What is the anxiety hierarchy?
Put together by the patient and the therapist, it is a list of situations related to the phobic stimulus arranged from least to most frighteningq
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Relaxation
The therapist teaches the patient to relax as deeply as possible, using breathing techniques, mental imagery techniques, meditation and drugs such as Valium
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Exposure
The patient is exposed to the phobic stimulus whilst in a relaxed state, starting at the bottom of the hierarchy and moving on once they can stay relaxed in the presence of the phobic stimulus
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When is systematic desensitisation successful?
When the patient can stay relaxed in situations high on the anxiety hierarchy
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What are three strengths of systematic desensitisation?
It is supported by research evidence, it is well-suited to most patients and it is preferred by patients
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What is one weakness of systematic desensitisation?
It requires a larger amount of sessions
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What is flooding?
Flooding involves immediate exposure to a very frightening situation. Sessions are usually 2-3 hours long and sometimes only one session is needed to cure a phobia
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How does flooding work?
Flooding stops phobic responses quickly, possibly because, without the option of running away, the patient quickly realises the phobic stimulus is harmless
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What are the ethical safeguards involved in flooding?
Flooding can be unpleasant so it is important that patients give fully informed consent and are prepared before the session
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What is one strength of flooding?
It is highly effective and quicker than alternatives
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What are two weaknesses of flooding?
It is less effective for more complex phobias and it is traumatic
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Card 2

Front

What are the behavioural characteristics of phobias?

Back

Panic, avoidance and endurance

Card 3

Front

Panic

Back

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Card 4

Front

Avoidance

Back

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Card 5

Front

Endurance

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