AO3 - Flooding

• A strength of flooding as a treatment for phobias is that it is a highly cost effective way to treat a phobia. This is because the therapy has been found to be effective, yet not expensive. Flooding can work in as little as one session due to immediate exposure and extinction of the phobia, unlike in SD, which could take up to 10 sessions due to gradual exposure of the stimulus. Therefore, flooding might be a more cost effective treatment, which benefits the economy as more people would be treated in less time using fewer resources, regarding flooding as a more appropriate treatment.
• One limitation of flooding is that it can be seen as unethical because the patient may experience extreme anxiety as they are exposed to their most feared stimulus for 2-3 hours. Although full informed consent is gained from the patient, SD could be seen as more ethical due to its gradual exposure of phobias at the patient's own rate. Schumacher found that clients and therapists rated flooding as significantly more stressful than SD. Moreover, the traumatic nature of flooding leads to drop out rates being higher than SD. Therefore reducing the appropriateness and effectiveness of flooding.