Psycho 4

PHOBIAS
WHAT IS A PHOBIA?
 A phobia, by definition, is an irrational fear of an

object or a situation.
 A phobia can range from something as small as
fear of the number 13, to something as big as
phengophobia, which is a fear of daylight or
sunshine.
WHAT IS A PHOBIA?
 Also, phobias can range from something very
common, such as acrophobia, a fear of heights, to
something extremely rare, such as
porphyrophobia, a fear of the color purple.
 Phobias affect both men and women form all
ethnicities and ages.
NORMAL” FEARS VS. PHOBIAS
 It is normal and even helpful to experience fear
in dangerous situations. Fear is an adaptive
human response. It serves a protective purpose,
activating the automatic “fight-or-flight”
response. our bodies and minds are alert and
ready for action, we are able to respond quickly
and protect ourselves.
 But with phobias the threat is greatly
exaggerated or nonexistent.
ETIOLOGY FROM THE LEARNING
PERSPECTIVE
 Behaviorists believe that a phobia is created

because the person has been conditioned to fear
the object. A good example of that would be the
Little Albert experiment. Little Albert was
conditioned to fear rabbits at first, then the fear
generalized to become doraphobia, a fear of fur.
SYMPTOMOLOGY
 The main symptoms and signs a perosn exhibits
include hot or cold feelings, sweaty palms,
nervousness, anxiety and in severe cases, strong
panic attacks.
 A person with a phobia to an object would show
the symptoms while in presence with the feared
object, while a person with fear of a situation
would fear thinking of it.
COMMON PHOBIA SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS:
 Shortness of breath or smothering sensation

 Palpitations, pounding heart, or accelerated
heart rate
 Chest pain or discomfort
 Trembling or shaking
Sweating
 Nausea or stomach distress
 Feeling unsteady, dizzy, lightheaded, or faint
 Feelings of unreality or of being detached from
yourself
 Fear of losing control or going crazy
 Fear of dying
 Numbness or tingling sensations
 Hot or cold flashes
 Fear of fainting
COMMON TYPES OF PHOBIAS AND FEARS
 There are four general types of common phobias
and fears:
 Animal phobias. Animal phobias are fears
caused by an animal or insect. Examples include
fear of snakes, fear of spiders, fear of rodents,
and fear of dogs.
 Natural environment phobias. Natural
environment phobias are fears cued by objects
found in nature. Examples include fear of
heights, fear of storms, fear of water, and fear of
the dark.
 Situational phobias. Situational phobias are
fears triggered by a specific situation. Examples
include fear of enclosed spaces (claustrophobia),
fear of elevators, fear of flying, fear of dentists,
fear of driving, fear of tunnels, and fear of
bridges.
 Blood-Injection-Injury phobia. Blood-
injection-injury phobia involves fear of blood, fear
or injury, or a fear of shots or another medical
procedure.
NORMAL FEARS IN CHILDREN
 Normal fears in children

 Phobias in children are common. According to The
Child Anxiety Network, 90% of children between the
ages of 2-14 have at least one specific fear. The
following fears are shared by many children and are
considered normal:
 0-2 years – Loud noises, strangers, separation from
parents, large objects.
 3-6 years – Imaginary things such as ghosts,
monsters, the dark, sleeping alone, strange noises.
 7-16 years – More realistic fears such as injury,
illness, school performance, death, natural disasters.
WHEN TO GET HELP FOR PHOBIAS AND
FEARS
 Although phobias are common, they rarely cause

considerable distress or a significant disruption
of everyday activities. For example, if you have a
snake phobia, it may cause no problems in your
daily life if you live in a city where you are not
likely to run into one. On the other hand, if you
have a severe phobia of crowded spaces, living in
a big city would pose a problem.
 If your child’s fear is not interfering with his or
her daily life, then it is unlikely that treatment is
needed. However, if the fear is interfering with
your child’s social activities, school performance,
or sleep patterns, you should seek professional
help from a qualified therapist.
TREATMENT MODALITIES
 Systematic desensitization is a type of behavioral
therapy used in the field of psychology to help effectively
overcome phobias and other anxiety disorders . More
specifically, it is a type of Pavlovian therapy / classical
conditioning therapy developed by a South African
psychiatrist, Joseph Wolpe . To begin the process of
systematic desensitization, one must first be taught
relaxation skills in order to extinguish fear and anxiety
responses to specific phobias. Once the individual has been
taught these skills, he or she must use them to react
towards and overcome situations in an established
hierarchy of fears. The goal of this process is that an
individual will learn to cope and overcome the fear in each
step of the hierarchy, which will lead to overcoming the last
step of the fear in the hierarchy. Systematic desensitization
is sometimes called graduated exposure therapy.
 Flooding is a form of behavior therapy and based on the
principles of respondent conditioning . It is sometimes
referred to as exposure therapy or Prolonged exposure
therapy . As a psychotherapeutic technique, it is used to
treat phobia and anxiety disorders including post
traumatic stress disorder Flooding was invented by
psychologist Thomas Stamp in 1967. It still is used in
behavior therapy today.
 Flooding is a psychotherapeutic method for overcoming
phobias. This is a faster yet less efficient and more
traumatic methods of riding fears such as of systematic
desensitization. In order to demonstrate the irrationality of
the fear a psychologist would put a person in a situation
where they would face their phobia at its worst. Under
controlled condition and using psychologically proved
relaxation techniques the subject attempts to replace their
fear with relaxation. The experience can often be traumatic
for a person, but may be necessary if the phobia is causing
them problems. The advantage to flooding is that it is quick
and usually effective. There is however, spontaneous
recovery of a fear that may occur. This can be made less
likely with systematic desensitization; another form of a
classical condition procedure for the elimination of phobias.

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PHOBIAS

 A phobia, by definition, is an irrational fear of an

 Behaviorists believe that a phobia is created

 Shortness of breath or smothering sensation

 Numbness or tingling sensations

 Hot or cold flashes

 Normal fears in children

 Although phobias are common, they rarely cause

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