...Addiction and Phobias Nina Hernandez PSY/300 February 19, 2014 Kirsten Fowler Phobias and Addictions People are diagnosed with phobias and addictions that keep them in a personal prison everyday. Many cases are studied and researched to find how and why individuals have phobias and addictions. The key points to these studies are to find if it is possible to cure individuals with phobias and assist those with addictions to quit or be cured. This paper will give definitions of phobias and addictions, types of phobias and addictions, and how they were developed. It will also discuss classical and operant conditioning and what extinction means and how it is achieved using both conditioning’s. Phobias Definition Before speaking of phobias one should understand the definition of the word phobia the definition from the text book Psychology (6th ed.) it states “an irrational fear of a specific object or situation” Kowalski, R. & Westen, D. (2014). Another definition from the Encyclopaedia Britannica Online also states that it is classified as an anxiety disorder (2014). Many phobias are believed to be learned emotional reactions that can occur when a fear is exhibited via a tragic situation or an alarming event. This in turn can be conveyed to similar events and can resurface as if they are feeling it for the first time. There are many phobias that exist; some examples are claustrophobia, arachnophobia, and acrophobia. Types ...
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...What is the fear of an objector situation? - Specific Phobia In a person with a specific phobia, does this phobia usually have any real danger? - No What is the fear of social situations. - Social anxiety disorder With social anxiety disorder, how long does this fear last persistently? - 6 months or more Could an phobia be hereditary? - memories can be passed down through generations in turn the chemical thought from early on can cause an phobia Is there a limit to how many phobias you can have? And why? - there is only a limit considering how many phobias are known to man Could you be diagnosed with a specific phobia if you have a disorder such as schizophrenia? Please explain. Not really. Schizophrenia could make you paranoid and could make...
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...Phobias are an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something. The first written reference to phobic problems that we have is in the works of the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates (470-410 B.C.E.). But Hippocrates didn’t actually come up with the term phobia. That word wasn’t used until nearly 500 years later, when a Roman doctor, Celsus, used the word hydrophobia to describe someone who seemed to have a horror of water due to rabies. The first relatively modern use of the word phobia wasn’t until 1786, when (according to the Oxford English Dictionary) an unknown writer in the Columbian Magazine defined the word as meaning “A fear of an imaginary evil, or an undue fear of a real one.” In the 1960s, it was observed that phobias basically...
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...suffer a serious heart attack right there siting on your chair? If you would, you may have a phobia. A phobia is an extreme or irrational fear. Everybody suffers from some kind of fear, everybody in the WORLD suffers from some kind of fear. Except Chuck Norris, he doesn’t have fears, fears have Chuck Norris. Most fears start fron scary events/thing that occur in the sufferers childhood. For example, About 100 years ago, my Great Nana Letty at the age 8 was locked in a school cupboard by the teacher. She was left overnight. .. haha. After that day till the day she died she suffered from a common but serious fear of being in cramped places- Claustrophobia. A specific phobia is a extreme fear of a specific thing. There are around 530 documented specific phobias. Lots of you may have heard about the more common phobias like Arachnophobia, the fear of spiders or Claustrophobia, the fear of being trapped in small places But there are also many ridiculously outrageous phobias for example; the fear of chicken or knowledge or even Gynophobia, the fear of chins. According to a highly experienced New Zealand medical doctor, Dr Frances Pitsilis, 10% of people in our nation suffer from specific phobias! Phobias can destroy lives. They can stop you from doing so many things. All right I’ll tell you a story. Ill add a couple of bits to show you how bad it would be to have specific phobias. So it was a fine morning, the sun was on his way up. I had a strong craving for a delicious...
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...Understanding Fear and Phobias For something that can cause as much suffering as a phobia, as remarkable how many people lay claim to having one and how many of them are wrong. Experts say, a true phobic reaction is a whole different category of terror, a central nervous system wildfire that's impossible to mistake. In the face of the thing that triggers fear, phobics experience sweating, racing heart, difficult breathing and even a fear of imminent death -- all accompanied by an overwhelming need to flee. For every phobia, the infinitely inventive and infinitely fearful human mind can create, there is a word that has been coined to describe it. There's nephophobia or fear of clouds and coulrophobia, the fear of clowns. It's one thing to invent a word like arachibutyrophobia, another to find someone who's really afraid of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth. Other phobias, however like acrophobia (fear of heights) and agoraphobia (a crushing paralysing terror of anything outside of the safety of the home) can be deadly serious business. Researchers are making enormous progress in determining what phobias are, and what kinds of neurochemical storms they trigger in the brain. Most psychologists now assign phobias to one of the three broad categories: Social phobias, in which the sufferer feels paralyzing fear at the prospect of social or professional encounters; Panic disorders, in which the person is periodically blinded by an overwhelming fear for no apparent...
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...Current Research on Fear of Darkness The fear of the dark is a common fear or phobia among children and, to a varying degree, of adults. Fear of the dark is usually not fear of darkness itself, but fear of possible or imagined dangers concealed by darkness. Some degree of fear of the dark is natural, especially as a phase of child development. Most observers report that fear of the dark seldom appears before the age of 2 years. When fear of the dark reaches a degree that is severe enough to be considered pathological, it is sometimes called achluophobia. Some researchers, beginning with Sigmund Freud, consider the fear of dark as a manifestation of separation anxiety disorder. An alternate theory was posited in the 1960s, when scientists conducted experiments in a search for molecules responsible for memory. In one experiment, rats, normally nocturnal animals, were conditioned to fear the dark and a substance called scotophobin was supposedly extracted from the rats brain, this substance was claimed to be responsible for remembering this fear. Subsequently, these findings were debunked A survey of 2000 adults conducted this year by Go Glow found that forty percent of us are scared when walking around the house with the lights off. One in ten admitted they were too terrified to even get up for a bathroom trip in the darkness. It’s something Katie Johns, 39, a Londoner who works in communication, knows well- she can still vividly recall what prompted her lifelong...
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...Phobias and Addictions PSY/300 July 29, 2013 Abstract Week Two of PSY/300, which is the General Psychology class, has an assignment of writing a paper regarding phobias and addictions. It includes the meanings and the differences between classical conditioning and operant conditioning. The paper explains what phobias are as compared to addictions and how each of them affects behavior in individuals. It also explains what classical conditioning means to phobias as well as what operant conditioning means to addictions. Phobias and Addictions Every person is in one way or another, conditioned by either operant or classical conditioning. Phobias develop through classical conditioning, whereas addictions develop through operant conditioning. The classical conditioning theory involves learning a new behavior via the process of association, (McLeod, 2012). Operant conditioning is the other type of conditioning whereas an individual learns through a reward system. It is more or less association made between behavior and consequence of that behavior. Phobias and addictions develop through these two types of conditioning. Phobias develop through classical conditioning and addictions through operant conditioning. Through the past decades, psychologists studied these two relationships to develop a more understanding of these emotional disorders. Phobias and addictions are negative behaviors and usually come from classical conditioning or operant conditioning. Phobias happen...
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...Course assignment Topic: Phobias Prepared by: Accepted by F1-10 ------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents What is a phobia? pg 3 Types of phobias pg 3 Symptoms of phobias pg 5 Coping with phobias pg 5 Bibliography pg 7 What is a phobia? The word “Phobia” comes from the Greek “phobos” meaning fear. But it is not an ordinary type of fear. A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder. It is a strong, irrational, fear of something that possess little or no actual danger. In many cases it is usually limited to one particular thing such as the fear of heights or lifts, of enclosed or open spaces, of travelling by plane, of certain animals and, in the worst of cases, of people. A phobia that has recently become very common is the fear of being “unclean” or contaminated by dirt or germs, and this leads to frequent and obsessive washing. Although the hands of a person with this phobia will get sore from repeated use of soap, he will not stop washing them. Some people have purely personal phobias. One woman was frightened that while she was driving a car, a bird would fly in front of a widescreen. Another man would never stand on a balcony fearing that at any moment it might collapse...
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...Trypanophobia (a.k.a.) Needle Phobia affects twenty to twenty-three percent of the adult population. Many of them even will avoid to seek medical care due to this fear. Nearly all cases of needle phobia go far beyond this. The fear of needles is not an uncommon thing Needle phobia is defined as a fear of medical needle procedures resulting from the sensation (or the memories of past sensations) of the needle entering the body. Other people will feel pain and some will feel physical sensations. Which oftens results in loss of consciousness and sometimes convulsions. Needle phobia in some case have been obtained hereditarily. A large amount of needle phobia cases are actually medical conditions that have genetic origins and are not traditional...
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...phobia is a type of anxiety disorder, usually defined as a persistent fear of an object or situation in which the sufferer commits to great lengths in avoiding, typically disproportional to the actual danger posed, often being recognized as irrational. In the event the phobia cannot be avoided entirely, the sufferer will endure the situation or object with marked distress and significant interference in social or occupational activities. Symptoms involve an irrational, persistent fear of a specific object or situation that's out of proportion to the actual risk. This includes a fear of situations (such as airplanes or enclosed spaces); nature (such as thunderstorms or heights); animals or insects (such as dogs or spiders); blood, injection or injury (such as knives or medical procedures); or other phobias (such as loud noises or clowns). There are many other types of specific phobias. It's not unusual to experience phobias about more than one object or situation. It’s only natural to want to avoid the thing or situation you fear. But when it comes to conquering phobias, facing your fears is the key. While avoidance may make you feel better in the short-term, it prevents you from learning that your phobia may not be as frightening or overwhelming as you think. You never get the chance to learn how to cope with your fears and experience control over the situation. As a result, the phobia becomes increasingly scarier and more daunting in your mind. Exposure: Gradually and...
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...she is afraid of is not harmful, her mom, as a precaution has taught her that spiders are bad. Additionally, I believe that others like my daughter have been taught by someone close to them at a young age to be fearful of spiders because they are poisonous, and unattractive. There is evidence that offspring of a phobic individual are at greater risk for developing the same specific phobia subtype because children tend to mirror their parents’ tendencies and fears King, Muris (2004). According to the DSM-IV-TR American Psychiatric Association DBM-IV-TR, (2000), a specific phobia is characterized by clinically significant anxiety provoked by exposure to a specific feared object or situation. Exposure to the feared stimulus invariably provokes an immediate anxiety response that may take the form of a panic attack. Because of the fear of the specific object or situation, people with specific phobias tend to exhibit avoidance behavior or endure situations with relative distress. Unfortunately, based on my observations of my daughter’s reaction to spiders and reading the DSM –IV I believe that she has this phobia. It is well known that facing what we fear most is the only way of overcoming one’s fears. Exposure therapy works much the same way the difference being that it is...
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...Discuss the relationship between stress, anxiety, habits and phobias and describe how you would treat these issues with hypnotherapy. All of the above disorders in varying degrees form part of the human experience of life. They are all related to one another and they are all caused by fear of change or fear and change. A habit can cause stress and lead to a panic attack and a phobia may cause both stress and anxiety. These disorders are all linked by how our minds are capable of coping with situations. Often these disorders may be inherent or they may be influenced by the environment. In order to understand the relationship between stress, anxiety, habits and phobias, it is necessary to first define what each one is and how it affects us. I will also explain methods of treatment and the ethical issues that I believe would need to be considered. Stress Any situation which causes a person to feel frustrated, angry or anxious will cause feelings of stress. Stress is our body's natural reaction to fear or change. Stress can manifest in several ways, a trigger can cause a reaction, eg a dental appointment etc or there may not be a trigger as the symptoms are always evident, a lack of self esteem, feelings of inadequacy or failure. Stress can also be a learned behaviour from our parents or environment. Stress can be negative causing illness and inhibiting people from moving forward and enjoying their lives. Stress can also be a positive thing, when a person pushes...
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...Phobias In 2014 there were more than 400 recognised phobias by psychologists. Good morning ladies and gentlemen today i am going to talk to you about phobias. So what is a phobia? A phobia is an extreme fear of or to something. A phobia is learned through heaps of fear resulting in a phobia that lasts for a long time. Where did the word phobia came from? It came from the latin word phobos which meant fear and a lot of fear and a tad more fear. There are three main types of fears: specific phobias, social phobia and agoraphobia.Specific phobias are ones that are phobias with living creatures, for example spiders, bats, snakes and flying.These are some of the phobias under specific phobias. Social phobias, these phobias are phobias that come in when you are with friends or even at school. Agoraphobia, this is a type of phobia that makes you scared of yourself in situations where there is no escape, it may include traveling in buses, cars, planes, large shopping malls.This may cause panic disorder. Some phobias originate from traumatic childhood experiences whilst others we are not sure about. How can you get rid of your phobia? Well you can have exposure therapy which is the most effective way, but you can also have hypnosis treatment, but that is not the best because people have been know to do the opposite and be so confident it nearly kills them! Here are a few facts to show you that phobias are not always bad they can be good also. Nearly 17% of people...
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...disorder more than men. Phobic disorder is a very common mental disorder of our time. How we develop them is based on the individual itself, from a traumatic event during a person’s childhood, to the perception of something that was brought to their attention. Depending on the person that is suffering from a phobia will determine the level of help, if needed, to overcome a phobia. Phobias are the extreme fear of a specific object, situation, or activity. Having a phobia can determine whether a person is able to live a normal life. Some phobias are extreme and some are very mild. Most extreme phobias alter a person’s life dramatically for example the fear of the color red. If someone were to think of how many red things we encounter on a daily basis, being afraid of that color would confine you to your home, and also harm you. On the other hand, common phobias like the fear of heights wouldn’t do so much damaged to your life because that is a more understanding phobia. Most people that suffer from phobias also have another psychological issue going on. Phobias can be developed by many different stimuli in a person’s life but the cause of a phobia is unknown. Phobias develop in a person when something has happen to that person or a situation that a person has experienced like getting...
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...experiment with his dog is known to nearly everyone who has taken a psychology class. He fed his dog in a pattern, every time he fed his dog he rang a bell. Eventually the dog associated the bell with food and would begin to salivate just on hearing the bell. That is the original experiment proving classical conditioning. Classical conditioning can cause a phobia. A phobia is a fear that is so irrational that the amount of fear is not warranted by the cause, and it interferes with the daily functioning of the sufferer. If one were to see and hear something that naturally produces a great deal of fear they may develop a phobia to similar sights and sounds. For example, if a car is heard honking and then seen and heard crashing at an intersection one might develop an irrational fear of car horns or crosswalks. Though a crosswalk at an intersection can be considered a dangerous place; if someone is so afraid to use one that they go completely out of their way to avoid it or change their plans all together, this would be considered a phobia because the level of fear is irrational and hinders the persons confidence. A phobia can be defined as an irritating fear of a stimulus that gradually evolves into a severe anxiety which can heavily disrupt and interfere with one’s daily activities. Fear naturally begins to surface in childhood, though gradually dissolves as a child ages. If a child enters...
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