TREATING PHOBIAS

• TWO METHODS OF TREATING PHOBIAS?

  flooding, systematic desensitisation
• WHAT IS FLOODING USED TO?

  quickly extinguish a phobia
• WHAT METHODS CAN FLOODING/ SD OCCUR IN?

  in vivo/ in vitro (virtual reality exposure therapy)
• WHAT HAPPENS IN FLOODING?

  • patient immediately exposed to phobic stimulus
  • patient remains with phobic stimulus until anxiety levels decrease
• WHY DOES FLOODING WORK?

  • removes option of avoidance
  • CS stops eliciting CR (become disconnected)
• WHAT IS SYSTEMATIC DESENSITISATION USED TO?

  extinguish phobia by gradual desensitisation (gradually exposing patient to phobic stimulus)
• METHOD OF SYSTEMATIC DESENSITISATION?

  1. Patient taught muscle relaxation techniques
  2. Create desensitisation hierarchy
  3. Work way through hierarchy while practising relaxation techniques
  4. Must complete a step before moving on to next
  5. Eventually patient exposed to stimulus while engaging in relaxation reponse
  6. Overcomes feared situation
• EVALUATION OF FLOODING?

  + research support

  + real world application

  + practical

  -generalisability

  -side effects

  -not appropriate
• RESEARCH SUPPORT OF FLOODING?

  Wolpe
• PRACTICALITY FLOODING?

  time and cost effective
• REAL WORLD APPLICATION OF FLOODING?

  • complete treatment
  • overcome phobia
  • integrate back into society
• GENERALISABILITY OF FLOODING?

  • case study
  • results cannot be generalised
• SIDE EFFECTS OF FLOODING/ SYSTEMATIC DESENSITISATION?

  • nausea
  • can worsen phobia
  • causing patient to stop treatment
• INAPPROPRIATE FLOODING?

  • not appropriate for children or people with severe learning disabilities
• EVALUATION OF SYSTEMATIC DESENSITISATION?

  + ethical

  + research support

  + appropriate

  -not universal

  -impractical

  -side effects
• APPROPRIABILITY OF SYSTEMATIC DESENSITISATION?

  appropriate for children or people with severe learning disabilities
• RESEARCH SUPPORT OF SYSTEMATIC DESENSITISATION?

  Lang and Lazovik
• NOT UNIVERSAL - SYSTEMATIC DESENSITISATION?

  • cannot treat evolutionary phobias
  • as they are not conditioned
• IMPRACTICAL - SYSTEMATIC DESENSITISATION?

  • causes people to drop out