Anxiety disorder: Specific Phobia
Requirements
for diagnosis:
A
specific phobia is an extreme fear of a specific object or situation that out
of proportion to the actual danger of threat. In addition, an individual with a
specific phobia is distressed about having the fear, or experiences significant
interference in his or her daily-life because of the fear.
However,
many people have a fear of a particular object or situation, but as long as
that doesn't influence day-to-day life, it will not be considered as phobias. For
example: a person who has a extreme fear of spider would not have a phobia if
the situation does not bother he/she to have the fear, and if the fear does not
interfere the functioning. Otherwise, an individual with a fear of spiders who
frequently avoid activities such as camping, gardening, and going in the
basement, and has trouble sleeping at night because of the fear of encountering
spiders, might have a specific phobia. So, once the specific fear that
interfering a person’s personal life either career, they might have a specific
phobia.
Symptoms
of Specific Phobia:
Base
on the criteria from the DSM-4th; American psychiatric association,
2000
l The individual experiences
excessive and persistent fear of a specific object or situation.
l The individual experiences feelings of anxiety, fear, or panic
immediately upon encountering the feared object or situation.
l The person recognizes that the fear is excessive. Unreasonable, or
out of proportion to the actual rick in the situation.
l The individual tends to avoid the feared object or situation, or if
he/she doesn't avoid it, endures encounters with the feared object or situation
with intense anxiety or discomfort.
l The individual’s fear, anxiety, or avoidance causes significant
distress or significant interference in the person’s day-to-day life. ( the
fear makes many difficulty to the person’s social interaction)
l In children younger than 18 years of age, the problem must be
present for at least six months before a diagnosis of specific phobia would be
considered appropriate.
l The person’s fear, panic, and
avoidance are not better explained by another disorder.
There are 5 types of specific phobia given
by DSM-Ⅳ-TR.
1.
Animal type: include fears of animals such as
dogs, cats, spiders, bugs, mice, snakes. Fish…
2.
Natural environment type: include
fears of heights, storms, and being near water…
3.
Blood-injection-injury type:
include fears of seeing blood, receiving a blood test or injection, watching or
even just talking medical procedures…
4.
Situational type: includes fears of situation such
as driving, flying, elevators, and any enclosed places…
5.
Other type: include other specific fear, such
as fears of choking or vomiting, fears of loud noise (balloons breaking) or fear
of clowns…
Causes
of specific phobia
The cause of specific phobia are complex,
it could involve 3 main factors: environmental(learning
history), cognitive(psychologically),
and biological.
Environmental- Learning history
l Direct learning experiences – Specific phobias
can sometimes begin following a traumatic experience in the feared situation. Ex:
someone who is bitten by a dog might develop a fear of dogs, or a person who
has a car accident might develop a fear of driving.
l Observational
learning experiences – there is evidence that people can learn to fear
particular situation by watching others show signs of fear in the same
situation. EX: growing up with parents who fear heights could lead to a fear of
height in some children as well.
l Informational
learning – this involves learning to fear a particular object or situation by
hearing or reading that the situation is dangerous. Ex: learning to fear flying
by hearing about plane crashes in news.
l Many
individuals report that their fear started without any obvious trigger or
cause. Some individuals report having had their fear for as long as they can
remember. Also, note that most people
are exposed to negative experiences (car crash; bitten by dogs) and do not
develop phobia. The interest question
that still remains mystery is “who develops a phobia following one f these
experiences and who doesn't?”
Cognitive (Psychological factors)
l Attention
and memory – generally people with specific phobias tend to pay more attention
on threatening information and relates to their fear.( ex: individuals with
spider phobias would looking for threat (spider) if they see green grass, or
image down to the basement)
l Beliefs
and interpretations about feared object and situations – people with SP tend to
hold beliefs and to image situation in such a way as to maintain or increase
their anxiety. ( ex: people with fears of heights may assume that they are
likely to fall at any time)
l Avoidance
and other anxious behaviors – Avoidance of feared situations prevents people with
SP from learning that the situations they fear are not as dangerous as they
feel. In addition, replying on “ safety behaviors” ( e.g.. driving extra slowly
to avoide car accident, wear long pants all the time to prevent spiders from
touching one’s legs) can also help to maintain a person’s fears.
Biological factors
Unlike
other types of anxiety disorders, there has relatively little research on role
of biology in causing or maintaining SP Still, there is evidence that SP
sometimes run in families and that genetics may play a role. Moreover, when a
person is exposed to a feared object, there are many biological changes happens
in the body, including changes in brain activity, the release of certain
hormones…
http://depression.about.com/cs/diagnosis/a/mdd.htm
http://depression.about.com/cs/diagnosis/a/mdd.htm
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