Treatment options for the specific phobias
Open accessAbstract
Specific phobias are among the most common psychological problems both in men and women. For treatment of specific phobias, exposure-based therapy is the first choice followed by cognitive therapy, relaxation techniques and short-term pharmacotherapy. Long-term pharmacotherapy for specific phobias, is associated with adverse drug reactions and drug abuse, thus not a reasonable choice for long-term symptom control. Glucocorticoids and d-cycloserine (DCS) cause fear reduction when used in combination with exposure based therapy. Being a non-anxiolytic DCS accelerates fear reduction during exposure by facilitating memory consolidation during post-treatment phase. Adjuvant cortisol to exposure therapy also caused great reduction in fear in spider phobia.
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Studies indicate that in vivo exposure is the core therapeutic mechanism.
“Studies indicate that in vivo exposure is the core therapeutic mechanism (57, 59–61).”
From Combined Fainting and Psychogenic Non-epileptic Seizures as Significant Therapy Hurdles in Blood-Injury-Injection Phobia: A Mini-Review and Case Report (2022) · cites this paper as [59]
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- Authors
- Singh, J., & Singh, J.
- Affiliations
- Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma University of Health Sciences (IN)
- ORCID
- Singh, Jarnail
- Venue
- International Journal of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology
- Publisher
- Medip Academy
- Published
- 2016
- Pages
- 593-598
- ISSN
- 2279-0780 (ISSN-L)
- 2319-2003
- OpenAlex
- W2501087786
- Cited by
- 28
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 1 · 2019: 9 · 2017: 3
- FWCI
- 5.70
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Locations
- International Journal of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Keywords
- specific phobia, phobia treatment, exposure therapy, cognitive therapy, relaxation techniques, pharmacotherapy, adverse drug reactions, glucocorticoids, D-cycloserine, memory consolidation, spider phobia, fear reduction
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