Prolonged in vivo exposure therapy is continuous real life exposure of a phobic person to an anxiety evoking stimulus, and maintaining this exposure until the anxiety is no longer elicited. This technique has been found to be an effective treatment for a variety of anxiety related disorders (Boulougouris and Rabavilas, 1977; Gelder, 1979) and usually relieves the symptomatology of simple phobia...

In this study we explored the changes in the variability and complexity of the electrocardiogram (ECG) of flight phobics (N=61) and a matched non-phobic control group (N=58) when they performed a paced breathing task and were exposed to flight related stimuli. Lower complexity/entropy values were expected in phobics as compared to controls. The phobic system complexity as well as the heart rate...

The article reviews psychosocial treatments for phobic and anxiety disorders in youth. Using criteria from Nathan and Gorman (2002), 32 studies are evaluated along a continuum of methodological rigor. In addition, the treatments evaluated in each of the 32 studies are classified according to Chambless et al. (1996, 1998) and Chambless and Hollon’s (1998) criteria. Findings from a series of meta...

According to the literature, it is assumed that fear and anxiety are basic emotions in anxiety disorders. Many recent studies report that disgust, as well as fear, has an important role in the etiology and maintenance of anxiety disorders. Evaluation of the role of disgust in anxiety disorders has led the theoretical and empirical literature in a new direction, beyond the traditional emphasis o...

The present study examines whether the repeated pairing of neutral facial expressions with phobic-relevant stimuli differentially influences evaluative ratings of fear and disgust between analogue blood-injection-injury (BII) phobic (n=40) and non-phobic (n=40) participants. Consistent with prior research, BII phobics reported greater disgust sensitivity than non-phobic participants even after ...

Introduction: Effective and prompt formulation of diagnostic conclusions about the presence anxiety-phobic disorders requires improvement existing development new methods for diagnosing treating patients, including use virtual reality technology. Purpose: To analyze a reaction an individual to stimulus that triggers fear response scenes (height exposure). identify electroencephalographic (EEG) ...

OBJECTIVE The implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) is the gold standard therapy to prevent life-threatening arrhythmias. Phobic anxiety predicts ventricular arrhythmia in coronary heart disease patients, but little is known about phobic anxiety in ICD patients. This study aimed to identify determinants and the course of phobic anxiety in ICD patients. PATIENTS 140 outpatients living w...

Functional sexual pain disorders in women are a particular challenge to the gynecologist, inasmuch as phobic avoidance and guarding on the part of the patient lead to difficulties in the gynecological examination and diagnosis. In some such cases examination may even be impossible. Vaginismus is the commonly diagnosed etiology of such cases. This article offers an overview of vaginismus and app...

It has been suggested that disgust, rather than anxiety, may be important in some phobias. Correlational studies have been ambiguous, indicating either that disgust increases phobic anxiety or that phobic anxiety potentiates disgust. In the experimental study reported here, disgust and phobic anxiety were manipulated in the context of habituation to phobic stimuli. Spider fearful participants w...