One of the most common disorders suffering individuals in contemporary societies is the phobic disorder. Etymologically, the word phobia is the English equivalent of the Greek word “φοβία”, which means morbid, unreasonable, compulsive, and agonizing fear (Greek Language). The first noticed occurrence of a phobia happened approximately in the fourth century B.C., and was made known to us by Hippocrates, in his work The Seventh Book of Epidemics. However, the specific term “phobia” was not used until half a century later, when it was incorporated by the Roman doctor, Celsus, in the word hydrophobia. (The History of Phobias, 2012)The ancient origins of this word reveal that phobic disorders were first established many centuries ago. In Psychology, …show more content…
According to the DSM-IV, specific phobias are characterized by “marked and persistent fear that is excessive or unreasonable”, preceded by the encounter or expectation of a certain object or situation, such as heights, flight, specific animals or insects, blood, or injections (Christos Halkiopoulos, 2010, p. 156). Furthermore, exposure to the phobic stimulus almost always elicits an instantaneous fear response, which may be exhibited as “a situationally bound or situationally predisposed panic attack”. (Christos Halkiopoulos, 2010, p. 156)
Albeit phobias have been in existence for many centuries, a single cause for them has yet to be determined . Opinions as to the causes vary, and research is pointing in many directions. The aim of this essay is to compare and contrast some of the most prevalent theories around the causes of specific phobias, and determine whether there is one that can be singled out as the correct one. However, as will be shown further on, not all cases of specific phobias can be accounted for by the same
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Brain Chemistry
This model attributes specific phobias to abnormalities in the areas of the brain that are related to fear and anxiety. In particular, it is said that specific phobias stem from increased responsiveness to fearful stimuli, of fear and stress- associated areas of the brain, such as the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) (David Sue, 2013).
The SNS is responsible for triggering fear responses and preparing the human body to face threatening situations. The amygdala and the hypothalamus of the brain belong to the SNS. The PNS is the system which returns the body to its normal, relaxed state after exposure to the threat has ceased. More specifically, once an individual comes into contact with a fearful stimulus, the amygdala is activated and in turn activates the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus activates the rest of the SNS with the objective of preparing the body to face the stimulus. A signal is sent by the hypothalamus to the adrenal glands which release epinephrine in the bloodstream. The epinephrine brings upon physiological changes , increasing the alertness of the brain and the energy levels of all body parts. If the brain continues to perceive the stimulus as dangerous, the hypothalamus releases corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), which triggers the release of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). ACTH prompts the adrenal glands to release cortisol, which aids the body in remaining alert. Once the individual
This specific phobia can lead to the person experience of an intense fear when not being able to break out of a populated area (Barlow & Mavissakalian, pp 4). This causes people having to evade open and heavily crowed environments with little possibilities to exit over their massive fear of going through a panic attack. Therefore, today there are signs in many rides at themed parks that warn people of the closed areas. This specific category of phobias causes the person to fear traveling on bus or even waiting in a line. This phobia can also lead to being dependent of someone because they are too afraid to go outside of their homes. Barlow & Mavissakalian (1981 pp 4-5), implicated that the clinical picture painted is consistent and consists or fears of going out to public places and open and crowded places, fears of walking alone or using any means or public transportation, and fears of being alone at home. Agoraphobia is the most disabling of all phobias and usually begins in early adolescence.
When we think about phobias today we are less inclined to think of the greek god of fear but of an intense fear of something or situation.
and Phobias, an online article by kidshealth.org Fear is simply your body reacting to something
The biological explanation for the acquisition of phobic disorders establishes that phobias are caused by genetics, innate influences and the principles of biochemistry. This theory recognizes that an oversensitive fear response may be inherited, causing abnormal levels of anxiety. This is illustrated in the basis of inheritance, particularly the adrenergic theory that convicts that those who have an acquisition to phobic disorders consequently show high levels of arousal in the automatic nervous system, which leads to increased amounts of adrenaline, thus causing high levels of anxiety.
A phobic disorder is marked by a persistent and irrational fear of an object or situation that presents no realistic danger. Agoraphobia is an intense, irrational fear or anxiety occasioned by the prospect of having to enter certain outdoor locations or open spaces. For example, busy streets, busy stores, tunnels, bridges, public transportation and cars. Traditionally agoraphobia was solely classified as a phobic disorder. However, due to recent studies it is now also viewed as a panic disorder. Panic disorders are characterised by recurrent attacks of overwhelming anxiety that usually occur suddenly and unexpectedly (Weiten, 1998).
A phobic disorder is marked by a persistent and irrational fear of an object or situation that presents no realistic danger. Agoraphobia is an intense, irrational fear or anxiety occasioned by the prospect of having to enter certain outdoor locations or open spaces. For example, busy streets, busy stores, tunnels, bridges, public transportation and cars. Traditionally agoraphobia was solely classified as a phobic disorder. However, due to recent studies it is now also viewed as a panic disorder. Panic disorders are characterised by recurrent attacks of overwhelming anxiety that usually occur suddenly and unexpectedly (Weiten, 1998).
“While biological factors certainly increase the vulnerability to developing fear and phobia, findings have not yet confirmed that these behaviors are controlled by biological mechanisms” (Rofé). Treating and understanding, psychoanalysis, phobias are believed to be a defense mechanism against trauma that might have been brought up as child. It still debated wether phobias are biological or created through life experiences. Due to varied experiments and evaluation, stating phobias derive from young childhood traumas would be untruthful and not factual. In the theory of psychoanalytic fear and phobias are created if the child remembers the experience which have brought
Though the experience of phobias is relatively common and their physical characteristics are generally well understood, there is no real consensus on the neurobiological basis of phobias. Instead, there are currently several different models and theories that work to try to understand how and why phobias occur in the human brain. Most hypotheses regarding phobias take a different approach, from biological to psychoanalytic to evolutionary. Is there one model that seems "less wrong" or more satisfying in our efforts to understand the biology of phobias? Using the various models, how do phobias seem to come about? How does thinking about phobias add to our understanding of the brain and behavior?
The adrenal gland is the endocrine gland that is activated when one is surprised or experience fear. This adrenal gland is located at the top of the kidneys. The fear hormones known as epinephrine circulates through the bloodstream to all cells of your body ("Fear: Body Alert!" 2013). The effects of adrenaline which is also called epinephrine is similar to the effects of the sympathetic nerve action. These glands increase blood flow to the brain and muscles in defense of the flight or fight response (Griggs, 2014, p.
Phobias, an extreme fear of something, can best be understood through use of the psychodynamic perspective. Oftentimes, childhood traumas or exposure to the object of the fear at an early age can lead to the phobia to manifest itself when the patient is an adult.
Introduction: Almost everyone has an irrational fear or two—of mice, for example, or your annual dental checkup. For most people, these fears are minor. But when fears become so severe that they cause tremendous anxiety and interfere with your normal life, they’re called phobias. A phobia is an intense fear of something that, in reality, poses little or no actual danger. Common phobias and fears include closed-in places, heights, highway driving, flying insects, snakes, and needles. However, we can develop phobias of virtually anything. Most phobias develop in childhood, but they can also develop in adults. If you
Phobia in clinical psychology context is an irrational fear of something or situation. The person suffering from phobia will try their best to avoid their phobia. In the extreme case that the person suffering from the phobia cannot avoid it, they will attempt to endure through the situation with a lot of distress ADDIN EN.CITE Swanson1986158(Swanson, 1986)15815817Swanson, Guy E.Phobias and Related Symptoms: Some Social SourcesSociological ForumSociological Forum103-130111986Springer08848971http://www.jstor.org/stable/684555( HYPERLINK l "_ENREF_2" o "Swanson, 1986 #158" Swanson, 1986). Phobias can cause difficulties in a person performing their daily activities.
Psychological Explanations of One Anxiety Disorder Phobias are an example of an anxiety disorder and the psychological explanations of these are cognitive, psychodynamic, behavioral and social factors. The Behavioral, Psychodynamic and social factors of the psychological explanation will be discussed in greater detail. Behavioral explanations say that all behaviour is learnt whether it is normal or abnormal and this approach has been applied to humans and animals.
In general, a phobia refers to “extreme [and] irrational fear reactions” (Powell, Honey, & Symbaluk, 2013, p. 190). Phobias are developed through a process called classical conditioning. Classical conditioning involves “a process in which one stimulus that does not elicit a certain response is associated with a second stimulus that does; as a result, the first stimulus also comes to elicit a response” (Powell et al., 2013, pp. 109-110).
However, phobia can even cause people to risk their health. For example, the fear of dentists can leave people suffering from it willing to risk the health of their teeth in order to avoid having to go through an exam or procedure ( MacKay). When one knows about an upcoming confrontation, it can be the reason why one can not sleep or finds it hard to focus on important tasks. Due the change in daily routine, this unrealistic fear can interfere with the ability to socialize, work, or go about everyday life, brought on by and object, event or situation. But even animals have anxieties and phobias just as every human being (www.phobia-help.de). A phobia is an irrational fear, one knows that the object or situation, one is scared off, can not hurt one, but one is still afraid. A reason for this is that the human mind can not distinguish what is real and imaginary. When one has uncontrollable anxiety attacks, he loses rational judgement, leading to complicated problems. However, anyone can develop a phobia, men and women, teens and young adults, and elderly lady or a one-year-old boy (MacKay).