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1、Unit 3 High Anxiety: PhobiasTeacher: Good afternoon. Today were going to turn to a new topic in psychology and start looking at some specific psychological problems. There are a variety of mental problems that can affect us in our daily lives-some are not so serious, like a fear of cats or of insect
2、s, and others are more serious. Now as psychologists, we try to study these different problems and find ways to help people.I want to start the discussion by talking about a fairly common kind of psychological problem-a phobia, thats P-H-O-B-I-A. First, Ill explain what a phobia is, and then Ill tal
3、k about some theories on why people have phobias. As you probably know, a phobia is a fear. So do any of you have phobias? Oh, come on, you can tell me; Im a psychologist. Yes, Monica?Student 1: I have a fear of swimming. I dont like to go near the ocean.Teacher: OK, thats not an unusual phobia. Any
4、one else? Ali?Student 2: I hate dogs. I mean, I just dont like them. When I see a big dog, actually any dog, I just get nervous, so I avoid them.Teacher: OK, thats another common phobia. Thanks for sharing those examples of phobias. A phobia is not a normal fear; it is an extreme fear-a very strong
5、fear. For example, my brother, whos a successful artist, had computer phobia. He didnt simply dislike using computers. He used to have a very strong fear of using them.Psychologists have come up with three characteristics of a phobia. People display these three characteristics if they have a phobia,
6、 not just a normal fear. Now first, a phobia is not a rational response. Its a very strong reaction, too strong for the situation. For my brother, this meant he had a very strong physical reaction if someone asked him to use a computer. He started shaking violently and had trouble breathing. Once, h
7、e even started choking. Physical reactions like this are common. Second, a phobia often lasts for a long time, for months or even years. In my brothers case, it lasted several years. Third, the reaction is too strong for a person to control. Fro example, even if my brother told himself not to be afr
8、aid at the computer, it didnt help. He still felt very afraid of. So, in my brothers case, he avoided using a computer.OK, so those are the three characteristics of phobias. Its an extreme, irrational response, its long-lasting, and its uncontrollable.Student 3: so uncontrollable means even if you t
9、ry to control it, you cant?Teacher: Yes, it means you cant control it by trying to deny you feel the phobia. There are ways to treat phobias, and well talk about those in a minute. Yes?Student 4: What happened to your brother? Did he get over it?Teacher: Yes, he did. The main thing was that he decid
10、ed that he wanted to get over it, and he was treated by a psychologist. Now he uses computers all the time.OK, so lets spend a minute going over some classifications of phobias. Phobias are classified by the thing or situation that the person fears. Greek or Latin names are usually used to describe
11、the fear. Heres an example: hypno, H-Y-P-N-O, means sleep, so fear of sleep is hypnophobia. Cyno, C-Y-N-O, means dog. So a fear of dogs is cynophobia. Right? Heres another example. Aerophobia. Listen to the first part, aero. Whats the fear? Aero as in airplane-aerophobia is fear of flying.Lets turn
12、now to the causes of phobias. One theory is that a phobia is learned. This means something happens that causes someone, or in a sense “teaches someone” to feel afraid. For example, Ali could have learned to be afraid of dogs if he was attacked and injured by one as a child.People can also learn to h
13、ave phobias by watching how other people react. In fact, doctors find that phobias tend to run in families. For example, lets imagine that Alis mother has always been afraid of dogs. Whenever Ali and his mother were together and saw a dog, his mother would get very scared, very nervous. When Ali saw
14、 how his mother reacted, he would then gradually become very scared, too. He would then have developed cynophobia from watching his mother. So, you can see that there are two ways learning can be involved in phobias. So, the first theory is that a phobia is learned. Learned either by direct experien
15、ce or by watching the reactions of others.The second theory says that a phobia is only a sign of a deeper problem. This means that the phobia isnt the whole problem. Lets take another example. I once treated a teenager who was very afraid of the dark. He couldnt be in a dark room by himself. He was
16、terrified to go outside at night, and so on. According to this theory, when he acted afraid of the dark, he was really showing his fear of something else. In therapy, it was revealed that he was afraid of his father. His father was very strict when he was young, and once his father made him sit in a
17、 dark room when he did something bad. According to this theory, his fear of the dark was a sign of his deeper, real fear of his father. Yes, question.Student 4: So what did you do? Did he have to talk with his father?Teacher: Well, no, we couldnt do that. But recognizing that he was really afraid of
18、 his father, and not the dark, was the key step in the treatment. Now hes cured. No more fear of the dark.OK, so lets think about these two theories, and about the main difference between them. The first theory says that the phobia is the problem itself. Right? And, the second theory says that the p
19、hobia is a sign of a deeper problem the person has. Why is this difference important? Its mostly important in deciding how to treat the person. According to the first theory, if a phobia is learned, perhaps it can be unlearned. A psychologist who follows this theory will try to teach someone to reac
20、t differently, to behave differently when he or she feels afraid. Changing the persons behavior is the goal. On the other hand, a psychologist who believes the second theory may start by trying to teach the person to react differently, but the doctor is interested in more than that. The doctors obje
21、ctive, or goal, is to help the patient reveal the deeper psychological problem, because it will be easier to treat the phobia if the deeper problem is identified and worked on as well.I want you to think for a minute about the significance of having these two theories, or any competing theories. Wha
22、t does it mean? It tells us that psychologists, like any scientists, have to continue to do research, to learn, and to test treatments we believe will be effective based on research. Treatments improve the more we learn.Im going to stop there for today. In the next class, I want to talk about other psychological problems. Read the next unit in your book before the next class. Thats all for today.
