Specific Phobia
DEFINITION
- Irrational fear of an object or stimulus out of proportion to the danger the phobic stimulus actually represents, leading to avoidance and distress or impairment
- Common subtypes
- Blood-injection-injury (BII): e.g. fear of needles, violent imagery, giving blood
- Marked by a biphasic physiological response that frequently leads to syncope: initial sympathetic-mediated response of increased heart rate and blood pressure rapidly followed by a vasovagal-mediated response of decreased heart rate and blood pressure
- Animal: e.g. fear of spiders, dogs, snakes
- Natural environment: e.g. fear of the dark, lightning, water
- Situational: e.g. fear of tunnels, flying, bridges
- Other: e.g. fear of vomiting, clowns, "space" (falling)
- Blood-injection-injury (BII): e.g. fear of needles, violent imagery, giving blood
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Last updated: October 31, 2017
Citation
Winter, Elizabeth, and O. Joseph Bienvenu. "Specific Phobia." Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Guide, 2017. Johns Hopkins Guides, www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Psychiatry_Guide/787054/all/Specific_Phobia.
Winter E, Bienvenu O. Specific Phobia. Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Guide. 2017. https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Psychiatry_Guide/787054/all/Specific_Phobia. Accessed September 22, 2023.
Winter, E., & Bienvenu, O. (2017). Specific Phobia. In Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Guide https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Psychiatry_Guide/787054/all/Specific_Phobia
Winter E, Bienvenu O. Specific Phobia [Internet]. In: Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Guide. ; 2017. [cited 2023 September 22]. Available from: https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Psychiatry_Guide/787054/all/Specific_Phobia.
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