Phobias Treatment
Phobias can be successfully treated. Pharmacological treatments offer quick relief, but their benefit is short lived. On the other hand, behaviour therapy can eliminate the phobia altogether, but the treatment is more intensive.
Medications
Several anxiety-quelling medicines come in handy in the treatment of phobias. They block the anxiety response aroused by the phobic object or situation. Benzodiazepines, like alprazolam; beta-blockers, like propranolol, and antidepressant medicines can help check the symptoms of phobia, and can be used before a public performance by those having social phobia. The benefit lasts till the medication is taken.
Behaviour therapy
Behaviour therapy is the most effective treatment for phobias. It holds the promise of a definite cure. A number of techniques are in vogue, and the most popular is the systematic desensitization. In this method, the phobic person is exposed to the anxiety-provoking object or situation in a gradual graded manner. The first step focuses on allaying the person’s anxiety. For this, he or she is given anxietyrelieving medication and lessons on how to relax in the face of anxietyprovoking stimulus. Once he or she is sufficiently equipped to handle the situation, they are confronted with the object or situation that is increasingly similar to the feared one. Gradually, the person learns to overcome fear. In this way, the strong associative links between the feared situation, the experience of anxiety, and subsequent avoidance of that situation are broken. The following case history illustrates the usefulness of the technique.
Therapists have also found other behavioural techniques useful in the treatment of phobias. Thus, in the flooding technique, the therapist encourages the person to actually face up to the feared situation. Gradually, they reach the point when they no longer dread the object or event. The implosion technique, similarly, tries to demolish the fear by training the individual to confront the feared object or situation in their imagination.
Visual imagery, deep breathing and other relaxation techniques are also useful in overcoming social phobia. Yoga, particularly pranayama (conscious breathing) and meditation can also help with their calming effect on the mind.
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