Phobias
By: Cecilia Comber
Silvana Oberti
Roberto Lambertini
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 triskaidekaphobia, which is a 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.
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.
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.
Treatments from the Learning
Perspective
• The Behaviorists have 3 ways of curing a
phobia:
– Systematic Desensitization
– Flooding
– Token Economy
Systematic Desensitization
• This technique is one of the most
successful ways of curing a phobia. It
involves having a person first think of the
object or situation. Once the subject has
gotten used to doing that, they're
presented with a picture of the object or
situation, then slowly put with the object or
in the situation.
Flooding
• This method, being one of the least
commonly used, isn't all that effective. It
involves flooding the person with emotion
until they are forced to overcome the fear
on their own. For example, a
arachnophobic would be put in a room full
of spiders.
Token Economy
• This method works particularly good for
patients with fears of places or situations.
It involves reinforcing the person positively
the closer they get to the situation.
Etiology for the Cognitive
Perspective
• The cognitive perspective views phobias as
being part of a line of faulty thinking. They
believe that this anxiety was caused from
previous experiences in life, which can include
their own personal experiences or viewing
others experiencing it. Cognitive scientists
believe that once the fear is established, it is
maintained because it has a direct influence with
the persons current and future cognitive
functioning.
Treatment for the Cognitive
Perspective
• The main treatment Cognitive Scientists
use to cure phobias, specifically social
phobias, is cognitive therapy. This type of
therapy involves a cognitive therapist
addressing and “fixing” the faulty thinking
involving the fear.
Etiology
There has been evidence that phobias are sometimes common in families and that genetics may be
involved in all of this. When a person is exposed to their fear or feared situation, biological changes in the body
occur.
When a person is exposed to a phobia there is a change in the brain activity and certain hormones
are released such as cortisol, insulin, and growth hormone. There is also an increase in physical arousal
symptoms, for example increased heart rate and blood pressure.
Neurotransmitters are the biochemicals that allow nerve cells in the brain to communicate.
Researchers have found out that too much or too little of this or other chemicals may create anxiety and not limit
the body’s reaction to fear.
The amygdala is a nuclear complex located in the dorsomedial portion of the temporal lobe. A part
of the amygdala known as the lateral nucleus is responsible for fear responses. There are many more circuits
leading from the amygdala to the prefrontal cortex than vice versa. This causes humans to have little control
over their fears.
Damage to the hypothalamus may also be the cause of phobias. This can be seen in phobic
children, for example, as they are born with a decrease in the neuron activity in the amygdala and hypothalamus.
The hippocampus has to do with memory, so damage to it could cause someone to incorrectly
remember an event which was fearful to them. The medial prefrontal cortex creates extinction, which weakens a
fear response to a conditioned stimulus over time. So damage here allows a fear response to stay there for years
after the first encounter with the stimulus.
Some of the people with agoraphobia have a mild heart condition known as mitral valve prolapse,
which causes heart palpitations that might cause panic attacks.
Genetics play an important role when it comes to the formation of phobias. There has been some
investigation regarding hereditary phobias but more recently there has been evidence that phobias may be
related to a mutation in chromosome 15. People with this mutation are born with it but it doesn’t show up until
later in life.
Treatments
There has not been much research done regarding biological treatments for phobias and
many psyhologists belive that there are better ways of treating phobias, but recently this has
changed.
Scientists are now giving their patients with phobias selective serotonin reuptake
inhibitors like paroxetine or antianxiety medications such as diazepam.
Some drugs such as Xanax and Valium are used in short-term situations. Beta-blockers
are also sometimes given lessen the fear response.
Antidepressants are also prescribed sometimes because is has been proven to be
helpful in preventing panic attacks that take part in phobias such as agoraphobia. This way, the
patients can deal with the problem itself without having to deal with the panic attacks that come from
it.
All the drug treatments cause a decreased blood flow in the amygdala and hippocampus,
just as some other forms of phobia treatments do.
The biological treatments are sometimes not recommended for long-term use because it
is said to cause little benefit with long term use, unlike with some of the other perspectives.