Specific Phobia

A specific phobia is an irrational fear of a usually harmless object, place or situation. This fear leads people to dread confronting everyday situations, or avoid them altogether. ‘The most common specific phobias are agoraphobia, the fear of crowded places and arachnophobia, the fear of spiders’ (Davenport, 1992, pg. 239). The main symptoms of person suffering from specific phobia according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), include ‘a marked and persistent fear that is excessive or unreasonable, cued by the presence or anticipation of a specific object or situation’, and ‘exposure to the phobic stimulus almost invariably provokes an immediate anxiety response, which may take the form of a situationally bound or situationally predisposed Panic Attack.’ Though psychologists so far have been unable to pinpoint the exact reason for the development of specific phobia, some of the various models of psychology have contrasting theories to explain. The biological model states that genetics are involved in the origins of some specific phobias and much research using family studies has been carried out to try to support this theory. For example Solyom et al (1974) ‘conducted a study with 47 participants and found a family history of psychiatric disorders in 45% of the cases. Of the 45%, 30% of their mothers had had a phobia in comparison to only 19% in a control group of patients who didn’t suffer from a phobia’. Also Fyer et al. (1990) ‘found that 31% of close relatives of individuals with specific phobia also had a phobia’ (Eysenck, 2004). However followers of the psychodynamic model believe specific phobia originates from the individuals repressed desires. According to Freud when the impulses of the id are forced into the unconscious, it creates anxieties in people. Freud believed that specific phobia is a defence against these anxieties. His evidence to support this theory was drawn from a case study on

References: American Psychiatric Association, 1994. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth Edition, (online). Available at http://www.behavenet.com/capsules/disorders/specphob.htm (accessed 17/10/06) Davenport, G.C., (1992). Essential psychology. London : Collins Educational Ltd Eysenck, Michael W.,(2004). Psychology: An international perspective. East Sussex: Psychology Press Ltd Joseph Wolpe M.D and Stanley Rachman, M.A. Psychoanalytic "evidence":A Critique based on Freud’s case of ' Little Hans’, (online). Available at: http://www.psychology.sunysb.edu/ewaters/345/2003_freud/little_hans.pdf#search= 'freud%20little%20hans ' (accessed on 17/10/06) Family Studies, Anxiety Disorders, Solyom et al. http://www.wikinotes.hosted.hostmax.co.uk/wiki/Anxiety_Disorders (accessed on 17/10/06)