phobias

What are phobias

group of mental disorders characterised by high levels of anxiety in response to a stimuli. - DSM categorises these as an anxiety disorder

Emotional characteristics of phobias

• Persistent, excessive and unreasonable fear and anxiety - even in absence of object /stimulus  

• Out of proportion to actual danger posed

Behavioural characteristics of phobias

• Avoid thinking about phobia - avoid situations where they may encounter it - avoidance significantly interferes with persons life (negative reinforcement)

• Freezing / fainting - adaptive response, predator may think they’re dead

• Panic behaviours e.g. scream, attack , fight

Cognitive characteristics of phobias

• Irrational belief system

• Recognition that fear is excessive or unreasonable

• Resistant to rational argument

2 part model - classical conditioning

Initiation phase - phobia is acquired through association between neutral stimulus and bad response e.g. lloud noise, leading to the new learned stimulus response

Little Albert

Baby - when presented with white rat, accompanied by loud banging sound close to his head

Created a fear response in Albert and eventually displayed fear at just presence of a rat.

2 part model - Operant conditioning - maintenance of phobias

• Through classical conditioning a phobia is acquired, however this does not explain why individuals continue to feel fearful or avoid the feared object.

The next step = operant conditioning - the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated is increased if the outcome is rewarding. As a phobia - the avoidance of the stimulus reduces fear and so is reinforcing.  

Strengths of The 2 part model

Supported by little Albert

Limitations of the 2 part model

• not everyone who has a fearful experience develops a phobia of it - explanation is incomplete on its own

• Cognitive aspects to phobias that cannot be explained by the behaviourist view.

• 2 part model only focuses on conditioning as a determinant of phobias, not accounting for phobias with evolutionary refining e.g. fears of the dark (enemy or pray attacking at night)

Systematic desensitisation

the most common behavioural therapy for phobias. It is a gradual, stage-based treatment that puts you in control and usually takes place over weeks or months.

 

How does systematic desensitisation work

• SD is based on classical conditioning.

• The phobic stimulus was originally neutral, but became linked with fear and turned into a conditioned stimulus.

• SD aims to reverse this learning so the stimulus becomes neutral again and no longer causes fear.

 

3 stages of systematic desensitisation

• Anxiety hierarchy: you and the therapist make a list of feared situations from least to most frightening.

• Relaxation: you learn to stay calm using breathing exercises and visualisation.

• Exposure: while relaxed, you are gradually exposed to the phobic stimulus, starting at the bottom of the hierarchy and moving up only when you can cope.

Strenghts of systematic desensitisation

• research supports SD as effective, with people showing less fear and more control after treatment.

• it can work well for phobias where the person can clearly imagine the feared object or situation.

Limitations of systematic desensitisation

• Limitation: it only treats the behaviour, not the cause of the phobia, so the fear may return or be replaced by another phobia.

• Limitation: some people struggle to use what they learn in therapy in real-life situations without the therapist’s help.

• Alternative: a combination of drug therapy and behavioural therapy may be more effective.

 

 

Flooding

• sudden, intense exposure to the feared object or situation without gradual steps or relaxation training.

• The person must stay in contact with the phobic stimulus and cannot avoid or escape it. At first, anxiety rises, but because no real danger occurs, the fear response eventually decreases. This is called extinction.

• Over time, the person learns the stimulus is no longer threatening.

Strengths of flooding

Cheap

Can be effective for simple phobias

Flooding limitations

Can be very stressful to traumatic, so may be ethical questionable

Less effective for complex phobias e.g. social phobia s