flooding

• what is flooding

  the patient is exposed to an extreme form of their phobic stimulus in order to reduce anxiety. this takes place under a small number of long therapy sessions
• how does flooding work

  • stops phobic responses very quickly
  • without avoidance behaviour the patient learns their phobia is harmless
  • classical conditioning = extinction
  • the learned response is gone once the conditioned stimulus is encountered without the unconditioned stimulus
  • the conditioned response no longer produces the conditioned response of fear
• what are the ethical safeguards

  • flooding isn't unethical but it is a very unpleasant experience
  • it is important that the patients give informed consent
  • and ensure patients are fully prepared
  • a patient is usually given the choice of systematic desensitisation or flooding
• why is flooding cost effective

  • studies comparing flooding to cognitive therapies
  • flooding is highly effective and quicker than others
  • patients can be free from their symptoms as soon as possible making it cheaper
• why is flooding traumatic

  • the problem is not that flooding is unethical but that patients are more likely to drop out of the treatment than continue to the end
  • therefore it is often the case that a lot of time and money goes wasted
  • time goes into preparing patients only for them to drop out of the treatment