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PI Brief Update

When does fear become phobia? Diagnosing a Specific Phobia of car travel. - Dr Kathryn Newns

21/05/12. About one-fifth of individuals involved in a road traffic accident (RTA) develop acute stress reaction; out of this subgroup, 10% go on to develop a mood disorder, 11% develop post-traumatic stress disorder, and 20% develop phobic travel anxiety. (Mayou et al., 1997).

It is relatively common, following an RTA, for an individual to develop some degree of anxiety regarding car travel. An expert witness with a background in clinical psychology is often tasked with determining whether the anxiety reaction is:

. A phobia of car travel (Specific Phobia. DSM.IV 300.29)

. A milder anxiety reaction, meeting the diagnostic criteria for a mild phobia

. A normal (non-clinically significant) reaction

For a condition to be considered a phobia, the fear must involve a...

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The opinions expressed in the articles are the authors' own, not those of Law Brief Publishing Ltd, and are not necessarily commensurate with general legal or medico-legal expert consensus of opinion and/or literature. Any medical content is not exhaustive but at a level for the non-medical reader to understand. 

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Excerpts from judgments and statutes are Crown copyright. Any Crown Copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of OPSI and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland under the Open Government Licence.