There are 20 million victims of phobias in the United States, half a million of whom have phobias so serious that they have been severely affected. But new ways to conquer the fears have been discovered.
The most common phobia is agoraphobia the fear of leaving home and mingling in public places, a terrifying experience for anyone who has visions of crushing crowds, threatening strangers, or dangerous animals. Phobias take many forms fear of heights, of enclosed places, of animals of insects and any one of them can be debilitating.
Until recently, these fears were difficult to treat. Long psychotherapy sessions offered some relief, but the success rate was low. But now psychologists have developed techniques that offer much better results. One of the most successful is a procedure called desensitization therapy a method of gradually exposing a patient to the source of the fear until it is overcome. The success rate with this therapy can run as high as 90 percent although some phobias take longer to treat than others, Desensitization can sometimes conquer the problem in a matter of weeks.
Another new method of treating phobias is called contextual analysis and therapy. It is a procedure in which the patient learns to control the onset of a phobia attack by recognizing the irrationality of the fear and then prevents it from getting out of hand by focusing on the reality of the situation. Some doctors also report excellent results with medication.
