Flooding - Phobia treatment

Question 1

What is flooding?

Answer 1

Method for overcoming phobias, where patients are exposed to stimulus at top of hierarchy right from the start

Question 2

Could there be any ethical issues with flooding?

Answer 2

Yes - Protection from harm, since patient may be overwhelmed with distress, due to sudden exposure

Question 3

What are the basics of flooding?

Answer 3

Patient exposed to phobia stimulus at its worst, and tries to replace fear with relaxation techniques

Question 4

What is the process of flooding?

Answer 4

1. Patient’s anxiety at high level, exhaustion or stimulus satiation takes place
2. Patient experiences alarm reaction, where body on high alert + non-urgent activity in body stops (e.g. digestion)
3. Energy directed to areas needed for fight or flight response
4. As energy used up + no more available, body will calm

Question 5

What happens if patient is prevented from making their normal escape/avoidance response?

Answer 5

Extinction will occur

Question 6

What is stimulus satiation?

Answer 6

Reduction in reinforcing effects of stimulus after repeated presentations or prolonged periods of continued access

Leaned behaviours less likely to occur if satiation has occurred

Question 7

What type of exposure does flooding involve?

Answer 7

Forced, prolonged exposure to actual stimulus that provoked original trauma

Can be problematic + impossible

Question 8

Explain what Thomas Stampfl found during his ‘implosion therapy’ technique:

Answer 8

Found that patients bombarded with detailed descriptions of feared situations for 6-9 continuous hrs lost their fear of that situation

Question 9

Explain Wanderers findings when developing Stampfl’s technique:

Answer 9

Used biofeedback machines to monitor patients listening to descriptions

By focusing on phrases that caused most reaction, Wanderer reduced first flooding session from 9 hrs to 2 hrs

Question 10

How long were the sessions that patients returned for?

Answer 10

As short as half hr

Question 11

How did Wanderer increase effectiveness of therapy + shorten time needed?

Answer 11

He combined in-office therapy with loop recordings of phrases most likely to trigger reactions

Patients would take recordings home + listen to them

Question 12

How does the fight or flight response link to flooding?

Answer 12

Flooding activates sympathetic nervous system, triggering physical symptoms

Question 13

How does conditioning + memory link to flooding?

Answer 13

Hippocampus + prefrontal cortex help to form + recall fear-related memories

Question 14

How does extinction learning link to flooding?

Answer 14

Fear can be removed through extinction (repeated exposure to fear stimulus without - consequences reduces CR)

Extinction involves ventro-medial prefrontal cortex (vm-PFC), which suppresses amygdala activity

Question 15

What is the role of the amygdala in flooding?

Answer 15

Amygdala detects threats + generates fear responses

In phobias, amygdala becomes hyperactive when exposed to fear stimulus

Question 16

How is relaxation brought into flooding?

Answer 16

Patient goes through rapid exposure + therapist helps patient with relaxation techniques to calm themselves

When calm, patient realises theres nothing to be fearful of + fear is extinguished

Question 17

What is an example of s relaxation technique used?

Answer 17

Progressive muscle relaxation

Question 18

How is the patient reassured about distress before flooding starts?

Answer 18

They discuss levels of anxiety they want to endure with the therapist before session starts