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