Psychological Disorders: Specific Phobic Disorders Essay Example
Psychological Disorders: Specific Phobic Disorders Essay Example

Psychological Disorders: Specific Phobic Disorders Essay Example

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  • Pages: 2 (380 words)
  • Published: March 17, 2022
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In many cases, psychological disorders refer to mental disorders. They are behavioral patterns that affect people’s lives and reaction to certain situations. Some of the phobias included simple phobia, social phobia, and agoraphobia. Simple phobia or specific disorder is a type of anxiety disorder characterized by excess fear on a particular object or situation. A person with simple phobia experiences anxious response like panic attack when exposed to the object or situation he/she fears.

On the other hand, social phobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by excess and unreasonable fear of certain situations where an individual expects scrutinization and evaluation of his/her appearance or behavior. This fear is usually a consequence of the individual’s expectation of negative judgment (Bourne, 2010). An example is an individual delivering speech in public. Agoraphobia is a mental disorder wh

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ereby an individual experiences fear because of being in a certain situation where escaping can be difficult or it would be difficult to get help (Bourne, 2010). A good example is travelling in a vehicle. People with social phobia usually feel anxiety in places where they expect scrutiny in public situations while people with agoraphobia fear both in public and closed places but their panic is not caused by social interactions.

However, the above three psychological disorders namely simple phobia, social phobia, and agoraphobia have some similarities. The first similarity is that both social phobia and agoraphobia involve excessive fear in public places. The second similarity is that all the phobias are characterized by panic attack. The third similarity is that both phobias involve excessive fear that causes discomfort. One of the articles that discusses the causes of phobias and anxiety disorders is

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“The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook” by Bourne. The article lists some of the causes as heredity, childhood circumstances, and stress accumulation (Bourne, 2010).

What I found surprising about the causes of phobias and anxiety disorders in the Bourne article is inheritance (heredity) of phobias and anxiety disorders. I found it surprising because I thought phobias and other anxiety disorders are not inherited. I thought people develop them as they grow. However, the article surprised me by claiming that these disorders can be inherited from one person to another.

References

  1. Bourne, E. J. (2010). The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications
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