Systematic Desensitization, A Valuable Resource Against Phobias
Phobias are one of the most frequent and widespread psychological disorders among the Western population, and it is estimated that they affect approximately 10% to 15% of them.
Fortunately, psychology has developed methods and techniques that allow us to overcome this type of problem, and in fact, it is one of the psychopathological disorders that responds best to treatment.
In this article we will see What does one of those forms of intervention used against phobias consist of: systematic desensitization But, first of all, let’s see what the anxiety disorder we started talking about consists of.
Phobias are a set of psychological disorders belonging to the category of anxiety disorders They are characterized because the people who develop them suffer a pattern of sudden increases in the level of anxiety when exposed to certain situations; As a consequence, they normally try to avoid these situations before they occur, or flee or withdraw quickly once the increase in anxiety has occurred, to stop feeling bad as soon as possible.
On the other hand, phobias They are as varied as the number of situations or stimuli capable of triggering phobic reactions, and that is why we talk about phobia of needles, phobia of driving, phobia of spiders, etc. Of course, whoever develops a phobia normally only suffers phobic-type anxiety reactions to a specific type of objects, living beings, places or situations. For example, a phobia of blood does not mean also fearing dogs, airplanes, etc.
The main symptoms that appear in a phobic crisis are the following:
What is systematic desensitization applied to phobias?
Systematic desensitization is a form of psychological intervention belonging to behavioral therapies and by extension to cognitive-behavioral therapy, and is widely used, especially to treat certain anxiety disorders, such as phobias.
The fundamental idea on which it is based is to help patients face those situations that they fear due to the phobia, helping them not to eliminate the anxiety reaction, but to master it and facilitate its gradual fading.
To do this, what is done is begin to expose the person to situations very similar to those that generate the phobic reaction in a controlled environment and following the guidelines given by the psychologist, making him not give in and flee from that kind of exposure.
This is achieved, among other things, by following a difficulty curve, starting with not very intense experiences and then making them increasingly more anxiety-inducing. To achieve this, we usually work with guided imagination exercises, images, and sometimes 3D virtual reality resources or real stimuli, when necessary and possible.
On the other hand, one more characteristic of systematic desensitization is that while the patient is exposed to “uncomfortable” situations that trigger at least in part a phobic reaction, it helps you induce a state of relaxation in yourself, through various psychological techniques. In this way, the experience that used to be associated with anxiety (spiders, needles, etc.) becomes associated with the opposite psychological and physiological processes.
Thus, the purpose of systematic desensitization applied to phobias is to allow the person to normalize the fact of experiencing the proximity of those objects, living beings, places or situations that they have been fearing, helping them to stop giving them so much importance. It is a process of authentic emotional and totally experiential training which cannot be replaced simply by theoretical learning about what a phobia is: normally, people know that the fear they feel in phobia crises is irrational, but despite this, it limits their lives.
If you suffer from a phobic problem or some other psychological disorder associated with anxiety or the management of emotions in general, I invite you to contact me to begin a process of psychological intervention in several sessions. I am a psychologist specialized in the cognitive-behavioral approach, and I work both in person in Madrid and through the online format by video call. To see more information about how I work, as well as my contact information, visit this page.
