ETIOLOGY

PHOBIAS
Psychodynamic Perspective
• Projection - a phobic reaction is a projection of the person’s own threatening impulses onto the phobic
object.
• Ex: Acrophobia – fear of heights prevents one from jumping of a building
Behavioral Perspective
• Mowrer’s Two-factor model – fear is acquired through Classical Conditioning and maintained by the
avoidance component of Operant Conditioning
• Observational Learning – phobias can be acquired even without direct experience with the phobic
stimulus.
• Prepared Classical Conditioning - evolution favored the survival of human ancestors who were
genetically predisposed to develop fears of potentially threatening objects, such as large animals,
snakes, spiders
• Stimulus Generalization – there is a tendency that a person will be afraid of a stimulus that is similar to the
phobic stimulus.
Biological Perspective
• Greater activation in the amygdala - produces fear responses to triggering stimuli without conscious
thought.
• Prefrontal cortex - have the job of evaluating threatening stimuli more carefully
GENERAL ANXIETY DISORDERS
Psychodynamic Perspective
• Freud: Free floating anxiety
• There is a threatened leakage of unacceptable sexual or aggressive impulses or wishes into conscious
awareness. The person is aware of the anxiety but not its underlying source.
Learning Perspective
• Generalization of anxiety across many situations
Cognitive Perspective
• Exaggerated or distorted thoughts and beliefs
OCD
Biological Perspective
 Worry Circuit
 Amygdala – fear
 Prefrontal Cortex - modulates input from the amygdala and other lower brain structures.
 Basal Ganglia - involved in controlling body movements, so it is conceivable that a dysfunction in this
region might help explain the ritualistic behaviors seen in OCD patients.
Psychological Perspective
 Yedasentience - sense of “that is enough”.
 Patients with OCD fail to gain the internal sense of completion, they have a hard time stopping their
thoughts and behaviors.
 COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL PERSPECTIVE
 Compulsions are reinforced because they reduce anxiety