A clinical psychologist treats a patient with severe fear of flying using virtual reality exposure therapy. Across eight sessions, the patient wears a head-mounted display that simulates boarding, takeoff, turbulence, and landing. The therapist measures self-reported anxiety on a 0-100 scale every five minutes and waits for ratings to decline before advancing to a more intense scene.
The patient's persistent, excessive fear focused specifically on air travel is best classified as which disorder?
- A
Agoraphobia
- B
Panic disorder
- C
Generalized anxiety disorder
- Dcheck_circle
Specific phobia
Explanation
A circumscribed, excessive fear of one identifiable stimulus or situation defines specific phobia. Generalized anxiety involves diffuse worry, panic disorder centers on recurrent unexpected panic attacks, and agoraphobia involves fear of multiple situations from which escape may be difficult.