1. What is a phobia? 1

2. 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

4. 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%

5. 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.

6. 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

7. 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?

8. 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

9. 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?

10. 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

11. 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)