Chapter 9: Application of a Biopsychosocial Approach to Explain Specific Phobia

Vocabulary flashcards covering biological, psychological, and social contributing factors and evidence-based interventions for specific phobia.

Biopsychosocial approach

A holistic, interdisciplinary framework for understanding the human experience in terms of the influence of biological, psychological, and social factors.

Biological factors

Internal, genetic, and/or physiologically based factors.

Psychological factors

Internal factors relating to an individual's mental processes, including their cognition, affect, thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes.

Social factors

External factors relating to an individual's interactions with others and their external environment, including their relationships and community involvement.

Specific phobia

A type of diagnosable anxiety disorder that is categorised by excessive and disproportionate fear when encountering or anticipating the encounter of a particular stimulus.

GABA (Gamma-amino butyric acid)

The main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the human nervous system that regulates postsynaptic activation in neural pathways.

GABA dysfunction

Insufficient neural transmission or reception of GABA in the body.

Long-term potentiation

The long-lasting and experience-dependent strengthening of synaptic connections that are regularly coactivated.

Precipitating factors

In relation to specific phobia, factors that increase the susceptibility to and contribute to the occurrence of developing a specific phobia.

Perpetuating factors

In relation to specific phobia, factors that inhibit a person's ability to recover from a specific phobia.

Cognitive bias

A predisposition to think about and process information in a certain way.

Memory bias

A type of cognitive bias caused by inaccurate or exaggerated memory.

Catastrophic thinking

A type of cognitive bias in which a stimulus or event is predicted to be far worse than it actually is.

Specific environmental triggers

Stimuli or experiences in a person's environment that evoke an extreme stress response, leading to the development of a phobia.

Stigma

The feeling of shame or disgrace experienced by an individual for a characteristic that differentiates them from others.

Benzodiazepines

A type of medication that depresses central nervous system activity and is often used as a short-acting anti-anxiety medication.

Agonists

A type of drug that imitates neurotransmitters and works to initiate a neural response (excitatory or inhibitory) when it binds to the receptor sites of a neuron.

Breathing retraining

A method used to teach breathing control techniques that may reduce physiological arousal.

Psychotherapeutic treatments

Treatments that address dysfunctional emotions, thoughts, and behaviours through therapeutic communication.

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)

A form of psychotherapy that encourages individuals to substitute dysfunctional cognitions and behaviours with more adaptive ones.

Systematic desensitisation

A therapeutic technique used to overcome phobias that involves a patient being exposed incrementally to increasingly anxiety-inducing stimuli, combined with the use of relaxation techniques.

Psychoeducation

Teaching families and supporters of individuals with mental health disorders how to better understand, deal with, and treat their disorder.