approach to treating phobias

flooding

what is flooding?

• sudden, extreme exposure to stimulus

• all or nothing, doesn’t rely on relaxation or gradual exposure

• patient must remain in sustained contact with the fear without engaging in any avoidant behaviours

• may take only a few hours

• anxiety initially peaks, but no danger occurs, so fear responses cannot be maintained, so subsides (extinction)

strengths

• cheaper than SD as fewer sessions needed, so more cost-effective

• works with simple phobias, e.g. arachnophobia, which many people have, so helps the phobias of many people

weaknesses

• can be traumatic for patient (ethically compromised)

• Schumacher et al found both patients and therapists rated flooding as more stressful than SD, so lacks ethical validity

• less effective with more complex phobias, such as social phobias as they require skills and training to overcome, which flooding does not provide

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