treatment

• Flooding:

  • exposure to phobic stimulus without buildup
  • person learns phobic stimulus is harmless through exhaustion of fear response = extinction
  • need informed consent as an unpleasant experience and need to know what to expect
• analysis of flooding:

  • cost effective
  • traumatic
• systematic desensitisation:

  • reduces anxiety via counter conditioning
  • CS paired with relaxation technique so new CR forms
  • reciprocal inhibition occurs = cannot be relaxed/anxious at the same time
  • forms anxiety hierarchy of fearful stimuli, relaxation practiced at each level of hierachy
• systematic desenstisation:

  • research support = gilroy
  • useful for people with learning difficulties
• how is flooding cost effective:

  • can work in 1-2 sessions
  • clinically effective
  • longer hours
  • more people treated at same cost by flooding rather than SD
  • more people can be treated = return to normal living and contribute to economy
• how is flooding traumatic?

  Schumacher = ppts and therapists rated flooding as more stressful than SD

  ethical issues arise as a known stress is created leading to higher attrition rates so more people avoid this treatment option
• A significant limitation of SD is that it may not be effective as it treats only the symptoms of an illness. As it ignores the emotional issues associated with the illness, it does not treat the deeper underlying cause of the problem and the symptoms may resurface in another form (symptom substitution)
• Gilroy:

  • followed 42 people who had SD for spider phobia
  • follow up study found that eg were less feaful than control group
  • suggest sd is helpful
  • however = small sample size and it is only useful doe objects rather than soical phobias