PHOBIAS AND ADDICTIONS

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PHOBIAS AND ADDICTIONS

Phobias and addictions A phobia can be defined as an intense fear of an object, a place or a particular situation etc. These fears are powerful and many times debilitating yet they are unfounded and are not based on fact or reality. The objects, places or situations which are most oftentimes associated with phobias are not actually threatening or dangerous however individuals who possess these irrational fears are terrified to come into contact with the sources of their phobias. An addiction involves being physically or psychologically compelled to ingest particular substances or to perform actions which produce the need to continue and increase these actions and behaviors. After a period of time, individuals who continue to use addictive substances or perform addictive actions such as gambling, build up a tolerance and need to increase usage of the drug or substance in order to attain the sensations which initially caused them to begin their abusive behaviors. Classical conditioning, also known as Pavlovian conditioning, is a natural process which involves several factors referred to as the unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, conditioned stimulus and conditioned response. The unconditioned stimulus or US, is an occurrence which causes an innate, involuntary response or reaction. When someone smells a favorite food cooking they most oftentimes begin to feel hungry; in this scenario the unconditioned stimulus, is the aroma of the food. The feeling of hunger in relation to the aroma of the food is referred to as the unconditioned response or UR; once again, the term unconditioned means that this is a naturally occurring reaction which has not been learned by the individual who experiences the feelings of hunger. Learning refers to any enduring change in the way an organism responds based on its experience. Learning theories assume that experience shapes behavior that learning is adaptive

PHOBIAS AND ADDICTIONS

and that only systematic experimentation can uncover laws of learning. Principles of association are fundamental to most accounts of learning (Kowalski, & Westen, 2009). Basically; a conditioned stimulus teaches an individual to respond in a way which they would not normally respond when an otherwise neutral factor is introduced to a naturally occurring reaction or behavior. The reaction which takes place after an individual is introduced to a neutral stimulus is referred to as the conditioned response or CR. In regards to phobias, theories of classical conditioning can be applied due to the fact that most irrational fears are learned by association and with the introduction of a stimulus which would otherwise not cause a reaction i.e. a neutral stimulus. For example; arachnophobia or the fear of spiders is not an innate or naturally occurring fear in humans, many people do not like spiders but they are not terrified of them to the point of panic. However; if an individual begins to associate spiders with the thought of being bitten, becoming sick or even dying, the mere sight or thought of spiders will begin to develop into a phobia which can eventually become debilitating. Operant or instrumental conditioning is a system of teaching and learning which applies particular forms of punishment and rewards to either decrease and eliminate, or increase actions and behaviors. Through the application of the appropriate form of reinforcement, individuals learn to make an association between their actions and the consequences which follow. Behaviors are learned by performing everyday activities and by being rewarded for these activities; individuals go to work every day because they know they will be rewarded with a paycheck, children try to do well in school because they know they will be rewarded with praise and good grades. Conversely, individuals who exhibit unacceptable behaviors and perform objectionable actions are reprimanded according to the severity of their behaviors, i.e. if someone commits murder they are sent to prison, if a college student cheats on an exam, they

PHOBIAS AND ADDICTIONS

may be suspended from classes. Promising rewards for appropriate behaviors has the propensity to increase those behaviors whereas the threat of removing something the person enjoys has the ability to decrease or eliminate behaviors which are objectionable; these actions are referred to as positive and negative reinforcement. Addictions are formed by operant conditioning due to the fact that performing a particular behavior or ingesting a substance provides a person with some sort of reward or feeling of pleasure. This feeling of pleasure then becomes associated with the use of a substance which increases the actions or behaviors leading to psychological or physical addiction. Laboratory animals will work to obtain the same substances that many humans abuse (cocaine, opiates, and alcohol) because they find exposure to the substance pleasurable, that is, reinforcing. Drug use can also be seen as behavior that is reinforced by its consequences. Cocaine may be used because it changes the way a person feels (e.g., powerful, energetic, euphoric, stimulated, less depressed), thinks (I can do anything, I can only get through this if I am high), or behaves (less inhibited, more confident) (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2010). As the term implies, extinction refers to the disappearance or eradication of an action or behavior. In classical conditioning, when the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus are no longer paired for a particular period of time, a person will gradually stop exhibiting the conditioned response. When people have particular phobias, many times these irrational fears become generalized or directed towards objects or situations which are similar to their phobia yet not the object or situation which initially caused their phobia. Behavior therapy is used to help individuals realize that their phobias are irrational and techniques such as desensitization and hypnosis are many times used to produce extinction of their fears.

PHOBIAS AND ADDICTIONS

Extinction in operant conditioning is achieved when both positive and negative reinforcement are completely stopped. A response which once occurred slowly because of a particular stimulus is gradually decreased and eventually becomes completely eliminated. Extinction therapy countermeasures seek to reduce conditioned responses using a set of techniques in which patients are repeatedly exposed to conditioned appetitive or aversive stimuli using imaginal imagery, in vivo exposure, or written scripts. Such interventions allow patients to rehearse more adaptive responses to conditioned stimuli. The ultimate goal of these interventions, extinction of the original conditioned response, is a new learning process that results in a decrease in frequency or intensity of conditioned responses to drug or fear cues (Kaplan, Heinrichs, & Carey, 2010). In conclusion, phobias and addictions are both based on and can be explained by theories of classical and operant conditioning. Individuals who suffer from addictions learn to associate particular rewards and enjoyable sensations with their drug or activity of choice. Addictions can be physical or psychologically-based, in either case; individuals who suffer from addictions build up a tolerance which requires them to increase their use of drugs or to increase their addictive behaviors. Those who suffer from debilitating, irrational fears or phobias, lean to associate an object or situation which would otherwise be neutral, with the possibility of being harmed, embarrassed or frightened. Ironically, even though phobias and addictions are caused by both operant and classical conditioning, they can also be cured or caused to become extinct with the use of behavioral therapies which utilize methods of operant and classical conditioning.

PHOBIAS AND ADDICTIONS

References Kaplan, G., Heinrichs, S., & Carey, R. (2010, August 17). ScienceDirect - Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior: Treatment of addiction and anxiety using extinction approaches: Neural mechanisms and their treatment implications. ScienceDirect - Home. Retrieved November 28, 2010, from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0N-50T41D41&_user=10&_coverDate=08%2F17%2F2010&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_or igin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1558864750&_rerunOrigin =google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=4d66a79 1443f6ee23b64d677575acd29&searchtype=a Kowalski, R., & Westen, D (2009). Psychology. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2010). NIDA - Publications - A Cognitive-Behavioral Approach: Treating Cocaine Addiction. ARCHIVES - National Institute on Drug Abuse The Science of Drug Abuse and Addiction. Retrieved November 28, 2010, from http://archives.drugabuse.gov/txmanuals /cbt/cbt4.html