mental health

Mental Health -

week 4

Phobias

The irrational fear of an object/event

Multiple Select

How might a phobia seem to other people?

• weird

• odd

• unreasonable

5 Types of Phobias

• There are five types of specific phobias:

• Natural/Environment Type, including a fear of thunder and lightning (astraphobia) or water (aquaphobia)

• Injury Type, including a fear of the dentist (dentophobia), or injections (trypanophobia)

• Animal Type, including dogs (cynophobia), snakes (ophidiophobia), and insects (entomophobia)

• Situational Type, including washing (ablutophobia) and enclosed spaces (claustrophobia)

• Other Types, including choking, vomiting, or loud sounds etc.

Multiple Select

Which one is a TYPE of phobia

• Claustrophobia

• Injury

• Pyrophobia

• Situational

Diagnosis

• Unreasonable, Excessive Fear: The person exhibits excessive or unreasonable fear

• Immediate Anxiety Response: The fear reaction must be out of proportion to the actual danger

• Avoidance or Extreme Distress:  avoiding the object or situation

• Life-Limiting: The phobia significantly impacts the sufferer’s school, work, or personal life.

• Six Months Duration: the duration of symptoms must last for at least six months.

Multiple Select

To be diagnosed with a specific phobia you/it MUST:

• Cause excessive fear

• Happen occasionally

• Be Life-Limiting

• Last for 6 months or more

How it Develops

• A stressful event occurs (e.g. being bitten by a dog)

• We have an emotional and physical reaction to that event (arghhh)

• We experience fear/anxiety the next time we are presented by the same stimulus (see a dog - feel scared)

• The avoidance of this stimulus and reduction of anxiety makes us 'feel' better (walk the other direction, avoid dog)

• This 'feeling better' becomes reinforcing - known as operant conditioning (anxiety goes away)

• The reinforcement of the feeling/thought the event is dangerous creates a behaviour pattern/routine (don't go to places i see dogs)

PNS and SNS

Open Ended

Phobias can be debilitating to the sufferer and cause drastic changes to a person's quality of life... How might a fear of mobile phones affect a person's Quality of Life? (QoL)

Multiple Choice

The Physical 'Fear' reponse is caused by what internal physiological system?

• Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS)

• Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS)

Multiple Choice

Emetophobia is a fear of what?

• Fire

• Weather

• Vomiting

• T-shirts

Multiple Choice

Pyrophobia is a fear of

• Weather

• Insects

• Balloons

• Fire

Multiple Choice

Claustrophobia is a fear of

• Heights

• Enclosed spaces

• Weather

• Clowns

Multiple Choice

Trypophobia is the fear of

• small holes/bumps

• weather

• fire

• germs

Open Ended

How does a phobia develop?