Editors note: This is the first in a four-part series about fear. <\/p>\n
A rainbow-headed clown in floppy red shoes twisting a balloon into the shape of a dog is amusing to some people. <\/p>\n
But others see that red nose, and their hearts pound, they feel faint or dizzy and their instinct tells them to run. <\/p>\n
From clowns and ghosts to escalators, cockroaches and even vomit, fear can take almost any shape. <\/p>\n
When it interferes with everyday functioning, that's when people tend to seek professional help, said Heather Chik, a clinical psychologist and director of the Anxiety & OCD Behavioral Health Center in Munster. <\/p>\n
\"Specific phobias are the most treatable anxiety problem out of all the anxiety disorders,\" Chik said. <\/p>\n
An effective treatment is exposure therapy and often can be done in one full-day session. She described a \"fear ladder\" or hierarchy, in which the patient and psychologist establish challenges to overcome, which gradually become more intense. <\/p>\n
If a person is afraid of dogs, the therapy might start by looking at pictures of dogs, then looking at videos of them, then going to a pet store, then touching the glass and eventually taking a dog for a walk, Chik said. <\/p>\n
\"We never go to the next level until they're comfortable with the level before that,\" she said. <\/p>\n
Exposure therapy teaches patients that anxiety does not last forever. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
See the article here: Editors note: This is the first in a four-part series about fear. Continue reading
\nScience of fear: Clowns, dead things can terrorize, traumatize<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"