Behavioural treatments for phobias

Question 1

two ways to treat phobias

Answer 1

• systematic desensitisation
• flooding

Question 2

systematic desensitisation

Answer 2

• hierarchy of fear
• relaxation techniques
• gradual exposure

Question 3

hierarchy of fear - systematic desensitisation

Answer 3

• a hierarchy of fear is constructed by the therapist + patient
• situations involving the phobic object are ranked from least fearful to most fearful

Question 4

relaxation techniques - systematic desensitisation

Answer 4

• patients are taught deep muscle relaxation techniques
• e.g. PMR, deep breathing etc..

Question 5

gradual exposure - systematic desensitisation

Answer 5

• patient is introduced to their phobic object gradually
• work their way up the fear hierarchy, starting w/ least fearful stage
• must use the relaxation techniques while exposed to the objects
• when they feel comfortable at one stage
  = relaxation + no fear
• move onto the next one and onto the next one
  = repeated exposure + take many therapy sessions

Question 6

ads of systematic desensitisation

Answer 6

• panic disorder
• less traumatic

Question 7

disads of systematic desensitisation

Answer 7

• impractical
• symptom substitution

Question 8

panic disorder - ads of systematic desensitisation

Answer 8

• psych supports the use of SD
• assessed various therapies for the treatment of panic disorders
• found that 87% of patients were panic free after receiving SD
• compared to 50% receiving medication
• 36% receiving a placebo
• 33% receiving no treatment at all
  = therefore SD is an effective therapy compared to others

Question 9

less traumatic - ads of systematic desensitisation

Answer 9

• SD is a less traumatic therapy for phobias than other behavioural therapies
  e.g. flooding, where the patient confronts phobia directly
• SD poses less psychological harm to patient + less upsetting for patients to endure, compared to other therapies

Question 10

impractical - disads of systematic desensitisation

Answer 10

• SD is not always practical for individuals to be desensitised by confronting real life phobic situations
• real life step-by-step situations are difficult to arrange + control
• e.g. someone is shared of sharks
• therefore SD might be very difficult to apply to real life situations/ phobias
  = questions the effectiveness of the therapy

Question 11

symptom substitution - disads of systematic desensitisation

Answer 11

• some critics believe the symptoms are merely the tip of the iceberg
• claim that underlying causes of phobia will remain
• in the future, the symptoms will return
• or symptom substitution will occur
  = when other abnormal behaviours replaced the ones that have been removed

Question 12

flooding

Answer 12

• involves directly exposing the phobic patient to their feared object in an immediate situation
• before the patient would be taught relaxation techniques
• immediate exposure to an extreme + frightening situation
• stops phobic responses very quickly
  = patient doesn’t have the option for any avoidance behaviour
• not allowed to run away or not face their phobic object
• extinction may occur = learn that phobic object is harmless
• flooding is ethical –> causes lots of psychlogical harm in the beginning
  = but patient gives full informed consent
  = usually last 2-3 hours

Question 13

ads of flooding

Answer 13

• cost effective
• immediate

Question 14

disads of flooding

Answer 14

• social phobias
• highly traumatic

Question 15

cost effective - ads of flooding

Answer 15

• flooding is cost effective
• especially when being compared to CBT
  = could take months, years to work to rid the phobia
• flooding seems to be a quick therapy
• useful as it means patients are free of their symptoms ASAP
  = treatment is cost effective + cheaper

Question 16

immediate - ads of flooding

Answer 16

• flooding is an effective + rapid treatment
• delivers immediate improvements for phobic patients
• especially the case when a patient is encouraged to continue self directed exposure to feared objects + situations outside therapy sessions
• results of flooding can be applied to everyday life outside of the therapy situation

Question 17

social phobias - disads of flooding

Answer 17

• flooding is less effective for curing some types of phobias
• e.g. social phobias
• have more cognitive aspects that flooding may not address very well
• e.g. addressing negative thoughts about speaking in public
• social phobias can be cured more successfully using cognitive therapies

Question 18

highly traumatic - disads of flooding

Answer 18

• flooding is a highly traumatic experience
• many patients may be unwilling to continue w/ the therapy until the end
• time + money may be wasted preparing the patients for flooding experience
• then they may decide to not want to complete the treatment
  = phobia is uncured
  = waste of time, money
  = better alternatives may be systematic desensitisation