Clinical Psychology and Mental Health

phobia

an irrational fear of an object or situation

behavioural

ways people act

emotional

related to a person’s feelings or mood

cognitive

process of knowing, including thinking, reasoning, remembering, believing

DSM

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder

DSM-5 categories of phobia

specific phobia, social phobia, agoraphobia

specific phobia

phobia of an object or situation

social phobia

phobia of a social situation

agoraphobia

phobia of being outside or in public space

behavioural characteristics of phobias

panic, avoidance, endurance

panic

crying, screaming or running away when in presence of phobic stimulus

avoidance

make a lot of effort to avoid phobic stimulus

endurance

choosing to remain in presence of phobic stimulus

emotional characteristics of phobias

anxiety, fear, emotional response is unreasonable

anxiety

unpleasant state of high arousal over long term when encountering or thinking about phobic stimulus

fear

immediate and unpleasant response when encountering or thinking about phobic stimulus

emotional response is unreasonable

anxiety or fear is greater than normal and disproportionate to any threat posed

cognitive characteristics of phobias

selective attention to the phobic stimulus, irrational beliefs, cognitive distortions

selective attention to the phobic stimulus

hard to look away from phobic stimulus

irrational beliefs

thoughts that can’t be easily explained and have no basis in reality

cognitive distortions

perceptions are inaccurate and unrealistic