Question

Avoidance makes phobias worse. If you don't interact with the thing that scares you, the brain will never accept that it's not harmful, and scary fantasies can become more exaggerated." How to paraphrase this quote?

A. Confronting fears reduces their power, as avoiding them intensifies phobias.

B. Ignoring your fears worsens phobias, making them more exaggerated.

C. Phobias grow when scary things are avoided, as the brain doesn't learn they are harmless.

D. Not facing your fears enhances their intensity and leads to scary fantasies

Answer 1

Avoiding fears can exacerbate phobias, whereas habituation through controlled exposure can reduce the fear response, as demonstrated in both human psychology and animal behavior.

Step-by-step explanation:

When discussing phobias and fear, avoiding the source of your anxiety can actually lead to an increase in the intensity of the phobia. Avoiding fears can exacerbate phobias, whereas habituation through controlled exposure can reduce the fear response, as demonstrated in both human psychology and animal behavior.

This is because through avoidance, the brain doesn't have the chance to learn that the object of fear is not truly harmful, which in turn can lead to more extreme and unrealistic fears.

Exposing oneself to the feared object or situation in a controlled manner is a therapeutic process known as habituation, and it allows the individual to become accustomed to the stimulus and realize it poses no real threat, as seen in the case of the crows becoming habituated to a scarecrow.

This confrontation with fear leads to a reduction in fear response over time and is a principle utilized in psychological treatments for phobias.