What is a phobia? 1

What is meant by phobia? A phobia is an irrational fearful anxiety response to a specific object or situation A phobic person shows a marked and persistent fear out of all proportion to the actual danger posed by the object or situation The sufferer recognises if it beyond their control and is unreasonable and excessive Psychologically the sufferer may experience feelings of fear, dread and panic, physically they may tremble, have heart palpitations and sweat. The body will have gone into a fight/flight or freeze response. The symptoms are so unpleasant that the sufferer will do everything they can to avoid the fear inducing situation or object. Avoidance strategies can interfere with their everyday lives

Mental Disorders What do we use to diagnose…. ? Depression, phobias and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are three of the most common mental disorders. In 2009 in the UK: Phobias = 2.6% Depression = 2.6% OCD = 1.3%

Phobias A phobia is an anxiety disorder, which interferes with daily living. It is an instance of irrational fear that produces a conscious avoidance of the feared object or situation.

DSM-V marked and persistent fear of a specific object or situation exposure to the phobic stimulus nearly always produces a rapid anxiety response fear of the phobic object or situation is excessive the phobic stimulus is either avoided or responded to with great anxiety the phobic reactions interfere significantly with the individual’s working or social life, or he/she is very distressed about the phobia 6 months

AO2 – Anxiety recap https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wwG0ZLzU7w Watch the clip and answer the following questions. What part of the mind is responsible for the emotion of fear? What is the name of the glands that release adrenaline? Shaun fears Peaches– how does this fear affect his life? How does Shaun react when faced with a peach? How might we explain this?

Which phobias are most common? The 10 most commonly reported phobias in the UK, according to a survey by Anxiety UK, are: social phobia – fear of interacting with other people agoraphobia – fear of open public spaces emetophobia – fear of vomiting erythrophobia – fear of blushing driving phobia – fear of driving Hypochondria…fear of illness Aerophobia...fear of flying Arachnophobia…fear of spiders Zoophobia…fear of animals Claustrophobia…fear of confined spaces https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzNSYw7xwpU&index=1&list=PLBC166F83ACE852E8

What are the characteristics of phobias? Affective (Emotional) Behavioural Cognitive What do you THINK about your feared object? How do you FEEL when you see your feared object? How do you BEHAVE when you see your feared object? Using the card sort starter activity, in pairs can you identify the above characteristics for Phobias?

Emotional Behavioural Cognitive dread restlessness distorted perception anxiety Inability to concentrate Persistent fear Irritable shortness of breath nausea shaking or trembling headaches and palpitations muscle tension avoid contact

Exam Questions Outline the emotional characteristics of phobias. (3 marks) Outline the behavioural characteristics of phobias. (3 marks) Outline the cognitive characteristics of phobias. (3 marks)