11. characteristics of phobias-converted-converted PDF

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in depth notes and activities for the key topics surrounding investigating psychology 1 - areas that are important to know within the course...

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PSYCHOPATHOLOGY LESSON 11 - CHARACTERISTICS OF PHOBIAS

STARTER ACTIVITY: SPECIFICATION CONTENT:

•

THE BEHAVIOURAL,

Text book

Pages 138139

EMOTIONAL AND COGNITIVE

CHARACTERISTICS OF PHOBIAS

• THE BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH TO EXPLAINING AND TREATING PHOBIAS: •

THE TWO-PROCESS MODEL, INCLUDING CLASSICAL AND OPERANT CONDITIONING;

•

SYSTEMATIC DESENSITISATION, INCLUDING RELAXATION AND USE OF HIERARCHY;

•

FLOODING.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

• By the end of the lesson you will be able to: • Identify the different characteristics of phobias: • Behavioural • Emotional • Cognitive

An irrational fear of an object or situation.

Ways in which people act

Ways in which people feel

P r o c e s s o f t h i n k i n g – k n o

wing, perceiving , believing.

DSM-5 CATEGORIES:

All phobias are characterised by excessive fear and anxiety, triggered by an object, place or situation. The sense of fear is out of proportion to any real danger presented by the phobic stimulus. There are 3 categories: • Specific phobias – object or situation • Social phobia – social situation (e.g. public speaking, using public toilet) • Agoraphobia – phobia or being outside or in a public place.

QUICK TASK:

Behavioural

Emotional

Cognitive

INDEPENDENT WORK: EXAM QUESTIONS:

INDEPENDENT TASKS:

1. Outline the behavioural characteristics of a phobia. [3 marks]

•

Research different types of phobias and categorise them into the 3 categories in DSM-5.

2. Outline the emotional characteristics of phobias. [3 marks]

•

Prepare a mnemonic to help you to remember the 3 groups of characteristics.

3. Outline the cognitive characteristics of phobias [3 marks]

•

Attempt the apply it sections of your textbook pages 138 and 139.

•

Research the causes, symptoms and treatments of phobias from NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Phobias/

Prepare a set of revision notes on the characteristics of phobias.

Additional reading: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/sciencenews/10486479/Phobias-may-be-memoriespassed- down-in-genes-from-ancestors.html

A phobic person may panic in response to the presence of the phobic stimulus. Panic may involve a range of behaviours including crying, screaming or running away. Children may react slightly differently by freezing, clinging or having a tantrum.

Unless the sufferer is making a conscious effort to face their fear they tend to go to a lot of effort to avoid coming contact with the phobic stimulus. This can make it hard to go about daily life. For example, a person who has a fear of public toilets may have to limit the time they spend outside the home which can interfere with work, school and social life.

The alternative to avoidance is endurance, in which a sufferer remains in the presence of the phobic stimulus but continues to experience high levels of anxiety. This may be unavoidable in some situations, for example for a person who has an extreme fear of flying.

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. This prevents the sufferer relaxing and makes it very difficult to experience any positive emotion. Anxiety can be long term, fear is the immediate and extremely unpleasant response we experience when we encounter or

think about the phobic stimulus.

The emotional responses we experience in relation to phobic stimuli go beyond what is reasonable. So, for example, a fear of spiders involves a very strong emotional response to a tine and harmless spider. This is wildly disproportional to the danger posed by any spider.

If a sufferer can see the phobic stimulus it is hard to look away from it. 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 it is not si useful when the fear is irrational. A person with a bear phobia will

struggle to concentrate if there is a bearded person in the room.

A phobic may hold irrational beliefs in relation to phobic stimuli. For example, social phobias can involve beliefs like ‘I must always sound intelligent’ or ‘if I blush people will think I am weak’. This kind of belief increases the pressure on the sufferer to perform well in social situations.

The phobic’s perceptions of the phobic stimulus may be distorted. So for example, a person with a fear of belly buttons is likely to see them as ugly and/or disgusting, and a person with a fear of snakes will see them as aggressive and alien looking.

Behavioura l

Emotiona l

Cognitive...