Phobia treatment

• Flooding is an intense treatment for phobias where the patient is overwhelmed with their phobia so they realise no harm can occur.

  Once anxiety has peaked it will decrease
• One weakness of flooding is that it is not suitable for everyone and may make the phobia worse
• One strength of flooding is that it is more cost effective as it only takes one session
• Systematic desensitisation is a treatment for phobias using an anxiety hierarchy for gradual exposure [starting with least scary, up to most scary] and relaxation techniques
• One weakness of systematic desensitisation is that it takes place in a controlled environment, the patient may not cope with the phobia in the real world
• One strength of systematic desensitisation is that it is less distressing than flooding and cannot make the phobia worse