expression是什么意思Unit 3 High Anxiety Phobias

2020年11月25日发(作者：樊浩霖)
Unit 3 High Anxiety: Phobias

Teacher: Good afternoon. Today we’re 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 insects, 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, that’s P-H-O-B-I-A. First, I’ll explain what a phobia is, and then I’ll talk 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; I’m a psychologist. Yes, Monica?
Student 1: I have a fear of swimming. I don’t like to go near the ocean.
Teacher: OK, that’s not an unusual phobia. Anyone else? Ali?
Student 2: I hate dogs. I mean, I just don’t like them. When I see a big dog, actually any dog, I just
get nervous, so I avoid them.
Teacher: OK, that’s 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 fear. For example, my brother,
who’s a successful artist, had computer phobia. He didn’t 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, not just a normal fear. Now first, a phobia is not a rational
response. It’s 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, he 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 brother’s
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 afraid at the computer, it didn’t help. He still felt very
afraid of. So, in my brother’s case, he avoided using a computer.
OK, so those are the three characteristics of phobias. It’s an extreme, irrational response, it’s
long- lasting, and it’s uncontrollable.
Student 3: so uncontrollable means even if you try to control it, you can’t?
Teacher: Yes, it means you can’t control it by trying to deny you feel the phobia. There are ways to
treat phobias, and we’ll 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 decided that he wanted to get over it, and he was
treated by a psychologist. Now he uses computers all the time.
OK, so let’s 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 the
fear. Here’s 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? Here’s another example.
Aerophobia. Listen to the first part, aero. What's the fear? Aero as in airplane--- aerophobia is fear
of flying.
Let's turn 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