Specific Phobias

Clinical Description

  • Extreme and irrational fear of a specific object or situation
  • Feared situation almost always provokes anxiety
  • Significant impairment or distress
  • Statistics
    • 12.5% (life); 8.7% (year)
    • Female : Male = 4:1
    • Chronic course
    • Onset = Most often childhood

Diagnostic Criteria

  • Marked Fear or anxiety about a specific object or situation
  • Phobic object or situation almost always provokes immediate fear or anxiety
  • Phobic object/situation is actively avoided
  • Phobic object/situation out of proportion to actual danger
  • Lasts more than 6 months
  • Clinically significant distress
  • Not better explained by symptoms of another mental disorder

Blood Injection Injury Phobia

  • Decreased heart rate and blood pressure when seeing blood, injections, or injury
  • Fainting
  • Inherited vasovagal response
  • Onset = usually in childhood

Situational Phobia

  • Fear of specific situations
    • E.g., Flying, driving
  • No uncued panic attacks
  • Fear centers around risks of the situation (e.g. Plane crashing), not having a panic attack
  • Onset = early to mid 20s

Natural Environment Phobia

  • Heights, storms, water
  • May cluster together
  • Associated with real dangers
  • Onset = usually in childhood

Animal Phobia

  • Dogs, snakes, mice, insects
  • May be associated with real dangers
  • Onset = usually in childhood

Causes

  • Direct experience
  • Vicarious experience – seeing someone else encounter a feared object
  • Information transmission – learning about a situation/object being dangerous
  • “Preparedness”

Treatment

  • Cognitive-behavior therapies
  • Exposure
    • Graduated
    • Structured
  • Relaxation – used to be practiced more, now often not a part of empirically supported treatment

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