Causes And Disadvantages Of Phobias

A phobia is a variation of an anxiety disorder that is usually triggered by a particular stimulus, which then provokes an extreme or possibly irrational fear response. It is unclear as to exactly how phobias arise in individuals, but it is likely that psychological aspects have a role to play. In this essay, I will discuss different psychological factors, specifically behavioural elements, which contribute to the acquisition of phobias and how important and universal these are in terms of explaining how some individuals develop such disorders.

The behavioural approach is one psychological explanation of phobia acquisition. This approach suggests that phobias are learnt through methods of classical and operant conditioning. The theory suggests

(Bagby, 1922) In this instance, the individual developed a fear of running water through classical conditioning. The association of the pain with the sound of flowing water caused her to fear all running water like streams. An additional study that strengthens the classical conditioning approach is one led by Sue et al. (cite) who found that people suffering from phobias were able to identify the specific, unpleasant event that triggered their phobia. Both of these studies strengthen the idea that classical conditioning can lead to the acquisition of phobias. This is not the case for all individuals though, as not all individuals with phobias can identify the exact incident that caused their phobia. (Öst, 2001) DiNardo et al. (1988) found that 50% of dog phobics had experienced an unpleasant confrontation with a dog and the other 50% of the sample had not. It is possible that due to the nature of the study being retrospective, individuals may not remember what caused the phobia. As traumatic situations may result in deficits in memory, the fact that the participants cannot identify an exact moment that caused their phobia may support validity. It is also conceivable that the stimulus that originally caused the phobia may have been repressed by the individual. As some individuals are more susceptible to developing phobias than others, it may suggest genetic vulnerability. “Traumatic conditioning experiences may produce no phobia in one child, a highly specific or transient phobia in another, and a much more generalised or chronic phobia in a third depending on other factors operating in each case.” (Merckelbach, de Jong, Muris and van den Hout, 1996) This highlights the importance of external factors, particularly individual differences and cognitive factors in the