Surveys of anxiety and phobia vs fears - Assignment Example

1) Psychodynamic perspective is that anxiety occurs due to imbalance between the id, the ego and the superego. Anxiety develops due to unconscious and unresolved conflicts arising as a result of power struggle between these three elements. Biological perspective is that anxiety occurs due to unbalanced excretion of the stress hormone called cortisol. Cognitive perspective is that anxiety occurs as a result of negative thoughts that are unintentional and develop when the person encounters anxiety provoking situations.

Humanistic perspective is that anxiety occurs due to faulty self-image. Anxious persons build unrealistic self-images which makes them susceptible to conflicting information. I agree with the cognitive perspective the most because negative circumstances apt to invoke negative thoughts and emotions which then invokes anxiety. I disagree with biological perspective because cortisol does not get released all by itself; instead, it is triggered by the negative thoughts and emotions and thus leads to anxiety. 2) Phobia is different from fear in that it is an excessive and unreasonable kind of fear that arises even at the thought of the object.

Phobia is an exaggerated fear that has no real existence. The desire to avoid the object is much greater than in common fears. The unreasonable fear can become so large as to hinder with the everyday life by producing constant distress and anxiety. Social phobia affects a person’s ability to function normally in society because the person starts dreading confronting people. He avoids social gatherings and prefers to stay isolated. A person may develop phobias because of these factors: genes (phobias may run in families); and, life experience (phobias develop when a person experiences negative events which he may not even remember consciously).

Research suggests that a combination of these factors causes phobias to develop.