Week 3 Discussion

Marianne and Joe were discussing what they are most afraid of; Joe explained that he was really afraid of spiders and dark places. He said that when he was a child, he had been playing hide-and-seek with his friends. Joe hid in the corner of his basement. It was dark, and he didn’t notice that he had stepped into a large spider web. When he felt something crawling on his neck, he screamed and ran out of the basement. Marianne asked Joe if he ever goes into basements now. He replied that he does, but he always makes sure a light is on and that he brings a broom in case he needs to knock down any spider webs.

In a given situation, when an individual is faced with a potentially harmful situation, they may react by confronting the threat, escaping from it, or freezing in place (fight-flight-freeze response). Fear is actually part of our normal response to certain life stressors. It subsides when the cause is no longer present. We often adapt improving our coping skills.

• Based on Joe’s explanation of his fears, do they meet the criteria for a phobia? Explain your rationale for your decision based on the diagnostic criteria for phobias.
• Describe the difference between common fears and a phobia.
• Explain the difference between fear and the symptoms related to an anxiety disorder.

 make sure to cite your sources and provide references for those citations utilizing 7 edition APA format. NO PLAGIARISM

 ****i have included some parts of the chapter that i would like to be use to respond in this assignment. 

The word phobia comes from the Greek word for “fear.” A phobia is a strong, persistent, and unwarranted fear of some specific object or situation. Phobias are the most common mental disorder in the United States. Individuals with a phobia often experience extreme anxiety or panic when encountering the phobic stimu- lus. Adults with phobias usually realize that their fear is excessive, although chil- dren may not. There are three categories of phobias: social anxiety disorder, specific phobias, and agoraphobia

Social Anxiety Disorder

A social anxiety disorder (SAD), sometimes referred to as a social phobia, involves an intense fear of being scrutinized or of doing something embarrassing or humiliating in the presence of others. According to DSM-5, the fear is out of proportion to the circumstances and results in avoidance of the situation or expe- riencing intense fear or anxiety when enduring the situation. Individuals with SAD are so self-conscious that they literally feel sick with fear at the prospect of public activities. SAD often involves high levels of anxiety in most social situa- tions, although some people experience anxiety only in situations in which they must speak or perform in public (performance-only type). The most common forms of SAD involve public speaking and meeting new people (APA, 2013). SAD affects 8.7 percent of adults in a given year; women are twice as likely as men to have this disorder (R. C. Kessler, Berglund, et al., 2005). SAD can be chronic and disabling, especially for those who develop the disorder early in life (Dalrymple & Zimmerman, 2011). In a 5-year naturalistic follow-up study, only 40 percent of those with SAD recovered (Beard, Moitra, Weisberg, & Keller, 2010). The 2-year recovery rate is much lower for African Americans and Hispanic Americans, with less than 1 percent reporting a significant reduction in SAD symptoms according to recent studies (Sibrava et al., 2013; Bjornsson et al., 2014).

Individuals with high social anxiety tend to believe that others are evaluating them or viewing them negatively (Cody & Teachman, 2011). Thus, they remain alert for “threat” cues such as signs of disapproval or criticism. They avoid draw- ing attention to themselves by engaging in “safety behaviors” such as avoiding eye contact, talking less, sitting alone, holding a glass tightly to prevent tremors, or wearing makeup to hide blushing (Shorey & Stuart, 2012). Those with SAD also tend to be socially submissive in an effort to avoid conflicts with others (Russell, Moskowitz, Zuroff, Bleau, & Young, 2010).

Specific Phobias A specific phobia is an extreme fear of a specific object or situation (see Table 4.2). Exposure to the stimulus nearly always produces intense panic or anxiety that is out of proportion to the actual danger represented by the object or situation (APA, 2013). The primary types of specific phobias involve: ■■ living creatures (e.g., spiders, insects, dogs, snakes), ■■ environmental conditions (e.g., heights, earthquakes, thunder, water), ■■ blood/injections or injury (e.g., needles, dental treatment, invasive medical procedures), or ■■ situational factors (e.g., enclosed places, flying, driving, being alone, the dark, or traveling in tunnels or over bridges).

It is not unusual for an individual to have more than one phobia. Scott Stossel, introduced at the beginning of the chapter, not only had social anxi- ety disorder but also had phobias involving germs, vomiting, enclosed spaces, heights, flying, and cheese. Specific phobias affect approximately 19 million adults in a given year in the United States (approximately 8.7 percent of the population) and are twice as com- mon in women as in men (NIMH, 2009a). Specific phobias often begin during childhood. Animal phobias tend to have the earliest onset (age 7), followed by blood phobia (age 9), dental phobia (age 12), and claustrophobia (age 20) (APA, 2013; Öst, 1992). Figure 4.4 illustrates the ages at which different phobias typically begin. Early fears are common and most disappear without treatment (Broeren, Lester, Muris, & Field, 2011). The most common childhood fears used to include spiders, the dark, frighten- ing movies, and being teased, while adolescents most frequently feared heights, animals, and speaking in class or speaking to strangers (Muris, Merckelbach, & Collaris, 1997). Contemporary fears of adolescents now include “being raped,” “terrorist attacks,” “having to fight in a war,” “drive-by shootings,” and “snipers at school” (Burnham, 2009). Blood phobias differ from other phobias because they are associated with a unique physiological response: fainting in the phobic situation. Fainting appears to result from an initial increase in physiological arousal followed by a sudden drop in blood pressure and heart rate (Ritz, Meuret, & Simon, 2013). Nearly 70 percent of those with blood phobias report a history of fainting in medical situ- ations; many avoid medical examinations or are unable to care for injured family members (Hellstrom, Fellenius, & Öst, 1996).

Agoraphobia Agoraphobia is an intense fear of at least two of the fol- lowing situations: (a) being outside of the home alone; (b) traveling via public transportation; (c) being in open spaces (e.g., parking lot or playground); (d) being in stores or theaters; or (e) standing in line or being in a crowd. These situations are feared because escape or help may not be readily available. The fears are out of proportion to actual dangers and result in avoidance of the situation or intense fear or anxiety when enduring the situation (APA, 2013). Figure 4.4 Phobia Onset People coping with agoraphobia have a fear that they might become incapacitated or severely embarrassed by fainting, losing control over bodily functions, or displaying excessive fear in public. In some cases, anxi- ety about the possibility of a panic attack, which is an episode of intense fear accompanied by various physiological symptoms such as sweating or heart palpi- tations, can prevent people from leaving their homes. Individuals who have ago- raphobia often have anxiety sensitivity, the tendency to misinterpret and overreact to normal physiological changes. Agoraphobia occurs much more frequently in females compared to males. Although this phobia is relatively uncommon (affecting less than 1 percent of U.S. adults in a given year), 41 percent of those affected rate their symptoms as serious (R. C. Kessler, Chiu, et al., 2005). The prevalence of agoraphobia among older adults is relatively high with about 11 percent experiencing their first epi- sode at age 65 or older. Risk factors for late-onset agoraphobia include severe depression or a tendency to be anxious (Ritchie, Norton, Mann, Carrière, & Ancelin, 2013). Etiology of Phobias How do such strong and “irrational” fears develop? In most cases, predisposing genetic factors interact with psychological, social, and sociocultural influences, as discussed earlier. Scott Stossel, for example, has a family history of anxiety that traces back to his great grandfather. His mother, an attorney, has panic attacks and many of the same phobias that Scott experiences. In addition to these biological factors, Scott also mentions that the unhappy relationship between his mother and father and their divorce may have played a role in his phobias. Although his parents’ child-rearing practices were well intentioned and loving, Scott believes that he had few opportunities to develop “autonomy and a sense of self-efficacy.” So, were Scott’s phobias a result of genetics, psychological influences, social pres- sures, or their combination? In this section, we examine the factors related to the etiology of phobias, as shown in Figure 4.5. Biological Dimension All phobia subtypes involve a moderate genetic con- tribution (heritability of 31 percent), according to studies of twin pairs (Kendler & Prescott, 2006). Individuals with phobias may have an innate tendency to be anx- ious and have strong emotional responses; thus their chances of developing an ir- rational fear response are increased. Exaggerated responsiveness of the amygdala and other areas of the brain associated with fear may make an individual more susceptible to developing a phobia. Neuroimaging studies have confirmed that individuals with phobias show increased physiological fear responses in reaction to phobic-related stimuli (Schweckendiek et al., 2011). A different biological view of the development of fear reactions is that of preparedness. Proponents of this position argue that fears do not develop ran- domly. They believe that it is easier for humans to develop fears to which we are physiologically predisposed, such as a fear of heights or snakes. Such quickl

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