Specific phobias

Specific phobia

a persistant, intense, irrational fear of a specific object or situation, often leading to avoidance behaviour

Dysfunctional GABA system

a failure to produce, release or recieve the correct amount of GABA

Long term potentiation

the relatively permanent strengthening of synaptic connections as a result of repeated activation of a neural pathway

Classical conditioning

person will have an initial negative experience/s with the phobic stimulus which results in a fear response. following this thought/sight of stimulus results in a fear response

Operant conditioning

negative reinforcement (avoidance of the phobic stimulus so that the stress response is not activated) strengthens the fear of the object

cognative bias

an error in thinking that can lead to inaccurate judgements

Memory bias

tendency to recall negative or threatening information more than positive or neutral information

Catastrophic thinking

Involves overestimating, exaggerating or magnifying an object or situation and predicting the worst possible outcome

Specific environmental triggers

phobias learnt through a direct negative experience with an object or situation. this object or situation then becomes a trigger leading to phobic response

Stigma around seeking treatment

people with specific phobia feel negative or shameful about their disorder and this stops them from seeking the support and treatment they need