Phobia Treatment Options
With most phobic disorders, the treatment options are the same. Anti-anxiety medication may be prescribed, or cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) suggested, or both. Depending on medical insurance coverage, medication can be expensive. It can have side effects. Some medications take long periods of time to process and leave the body. If this is the only treatment used, the phobia may return when medication is stopped. On the other hand, medication may take effect more quickly and be less intrusive than cognitive-behavioral therapy.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy in cases of phobia often involves systematic desensitization, or “exposure therapy,” which is gradual exposure to the feared object, situation or activity. The hope is that after numerous exposures, a change in thought patterns will occur. As new information from the exposures is integrated into existing thought patterns, anxiety lessens over time.
Personal Phobia Treatment Experience
In my mid-twenties I participated in a clinical trial at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). Criteria for participation in the study included having experienced at least one violent traumatic event and present suffering from both PTSD and Panic Disorder. I hoped to fall into the group receiving test medication. When the lot was cast, I was placed into the control group and did not receive medication. Instead, we were taught to self-administer various cognitive-behavioral therapy methods, including exposure therapy.
In spite of my disappointment at not receiving the medication I sought, my desperation for relief urged me forward. Our group gathered on a weekly basis and we began doing the homework of gradual exposure to our top four phobias. One of the phobias I addressed was my excessive fear of knives.
Prior to treatment, the mere sight of a knife, particularly in someone else’s hand, set off an alarm in my head that triggered a panic attack. After several weeks of exposure therapy, my fear lessened and resulting panic attacks began to subside. It took time, but eventually my panic attacks at seeing knives stopped. I haven’t had a knife-related panic attack in probably eight years.
Conclusion
Since I had measurable success using exposure therapy to alleviate other phobias, it is reasonable to believe it will work in regard to my avoidance of crowds.1 Exposure therapy is a viable option, whether my fear is ochlophobia or the beginnings of agoraphobia. Whichever phobia it is, one thing is clear: without treatment, phobic disorders grow progressively worse and increasingly inhibit normal life activities. In light of this, it is important to seek treatment early in order to stop suffering and continue an active life.
1 See “Ochlophobia or Agoraphobia?” article at flintstonechronicle.com.
