Aquaphobia is a fear that can affect one’s daily life in many drastic ways anywhere from personal to social to professional life. Aquaphobia is a specific phobia of water that involves a certain level of fear that is beyond the patient’s control. Aquaphobia even classifies as a panic disorder, which is a severe anxiety disorder characterized by reoccurring panic attacks with anticipatory anxiety and significant behavioral changes (Ajinkya, 2015). People that suffer from Aquaphobia may experience it even though they understand that the water from an ocean, lake, river, pool or even bathtub poses no imminent threat. Some causes of this phobia include the fear of drowning, experiencing a horrific accident or even overprotective parents. Some symptoms …show more content…
Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (CBT) is also often paired with systematic desensitization. CBT is focused on regaining control of reactions to stress and stimuli, ultimately reducing the feeling of helplessness (Palazzolo, 2014). One specific case of Psychotherapeutic Treatment for Aquaphobia takes a closer look at the break down of how systematic desensitization would be applied. Initially, the patient would be given information on their phobia, making it seem as unthreatening as possible and by showing them that they are not alone, as this disorder is common and that there is a cognitive approach to treat their condition. You first explain to the patient step by step the therapy that is going to take place. You ask them to carefully watch themselves throughout each situation and take notice at what parts they find challenging or lead them to avoidance. It is also suggested that the patients rates her anxiety during those situations on a scale from 1-10. The duration of this therapy would be approximately 13 sessions, meeting once a week for 30-45 minutes. The first three sessions are centered around their life and story of their disability, the diagnosis and the analysis of the disorder while working out a review of each sessions and what their ultimate goal …show more content…
This disorder can involve something as simple as the fear of taking a sip of water. In a case as severe as this, hypnotherapy may be the way to go. Hypnotherapy is the use of hypnosis with conventional psychotherapy. It amplifies the effects of cognitive therapy by teaching relaxation techniques while also enhancing access to the unconscious process that can help to easily identify distorted cognitions. It also used post-hypnotic suggestions to facilitate divergent thinking/experiences (Ajinkya, 2015). One prime example of the success of this treatment is based on a 37-year old Indian media professional who has suffered from panic disorder from drinking water for the past 10 years. It all began when he was at a restaurant with friends and felt a headache coming on so he took some medicine along with a sip of water. He began choking and got the feeling that he was ‘going to die.’ From that initial episode, there were many discrete episodes that followed that included panic while drinking water. He tried taking anti-anxiety medications and attended counseling sessions but the symptoms prevailed and it eventually negatively impacted his social and professional life. From there, he saw a psychiatrist and was diagnosed with Aquaphobia and referred to hypnotherapy after medication did not work. He underwent 6 sessions of cognitive hypnotherapy. He was given reassuring positive suggestions
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a hands-on form of psychotherapy that is empirically based, which focuses on the interrelationship between emotions, behaviors, and thoughts. Through CBT, patients are able to identify their distorted thinking and modify their beliefs in order to change their behaviors. Once a patient changes their distorted thinking, they are able to think in a more positive and realistic manner. Overall, CBT focuses on consistent problem solving strategies and changing negative thought distortions and negative behavior. There are different types of CBT, which share common elements. Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a kind of CBT, which falls under the umbrella of CBT.
The procedures leading to the acquisition and elimination of agoraphobia are based on a number of behavioural principles. The underlying principle is that of classical conditioning. Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus (Weiten, 1998). Eliminating agoraphobia is basically achieving self-control through behaviour modification. Behaviour modification is systematically changing behaviour through the application of the principles of conditioning (Weiten, 1998). The specific principle used here is systematic desensitisation. The two basic responses displayed are anxiety and relaxation, which are incompatible responses. Systematic desensitisation works by reconditioning people so that the conditioned stimulus elicits relaxation instead of anxiety. This is called counterconditioning. Counterconditioning is an attempt to reverse the process of classical conditioning by associating the crucial stimulus with a new conditioned response (Weiten, 1998). This technique's effectiveness in eliminating agoraphobia is well documented.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a form of therapy which can be used to treat a wide range of mental health problems. Cognitive Therapy is an active, directive, time limited, structured approach used to treat a variety of psychiatric disorders, for example depression, anxiety, phobias (Beck, 1967). It emerged as a rational amalgam of behavioural and cognitive theories of human behaviour and is based on the idea that our thoughts determine our behaviour and feelings (Kendall PC, 1979). On average a patient attends between 5 and 20 appointments with their therapist. (Blenkiron 2013)
Just imagine for a moment that you have a cynophobia or the fear of dogs, would this be how you would feel. Driving down the road the oil light comes on. "I must stop the car to add more oil or I will damage the car engine. This looks like a good place to pull over. I'll just stop in front of this house. The oil is in the trunk, so I'll pop the top first, then get the oil out of the trunk. OK, I have the oil, but what if there is a dog at this house. Hurry, I have to hurry. A dog might come running out and bark at me any minute. Just get the oil in the engine. I can't my hands are shaking. Don't worry, there is no dog. Just get the oil in the engine. I don't care if I spill it, just get some in the engine. Take another look around, is there a dog anywhere. OK, the oils in, now hurry get back in the car. I can't breath. I'm safely back in the car, now just take a minute and breath. When will my hands stop shaking." This is how a person with a phobia of dogs might feel. There is no dog around anywhere in sight, but the thought of a dog running at them barking is enough to cause a panic attack. In "Exploring Psychology" David G. Myers defines phobia as "an anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object or situation" (432). This paper will explore the history, causes, effects, and treatment of Phobias.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is an approach used by psychotherapists to deal with emotional and behavioral behaviors. One of the issues associated with this type of therapy is the approach can be used in the treatment of other diseases related to emotional and physical stress. According to...
Social anxiety is a prevalent and common disorder amongst society. Social anxiety disorder is expressed as a fear in public and social situations for an individual (Kashdan, Farmer, Adams, Mcknight, Ferssizidis, Nezelf 2013). A person with social anxiety fears that a social appearance, outcome, or situation will lead a to negative response to their surrounding audience (Kashdan, Farmer, Adams, Mcknight, Ferssizidis, Nezelf 2013). However there are numerous treatments for social anxiety. Cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the most efficacious treatments that a patient may receive (Hambrick, Weeks, Harb, & Heimberg, 2003. Cognitive behavioral therapy has numerous techniques that can be used on patients. The result of using cognitive behavioral therapy on patients shows that it has long-term and short-term effectiveness (Hambrick, Weeks, Harb, & Heimberg, 2003. In conclusion a patient with social anxiety disorder should have the opportunity to try cognitive behavioral therapy.
Cognitive behavioral therapy earliest inventors were behaviorist, such as Skinner, Watson, and Pavlov. They’re the ones who led to the advancement for behavioral treatment of mental disorders. Behavioral modification is a technique that uses positive and negative reinforcements to change a particular behavior and reaction to a stimulus. Behavioral therapist only focused on an individual’s behavior not their thoughts. During this era, psychologists applied B.F. Skinner’s radical behaviorism to clinical work. Much of these studies focused on chronic psychiatric disorders, such as autism and psychotic behavior. His methods also focus...
In this treatment, “clients are repeatedly exposed to objects or situations that produce anxiety, obsessive fears, and compulsive behaviors, but they are told to resist performing the behaviors they feel so bound to preform” (Comer, 2015). Individuals going through this treatment will often find it extremely difficult to resist the urge to preform these compulsions, or behaviors, therefor the therapist will often be the first to set this example. This treatment can be conducted in an individual, or group
Cognitive-behaviorists have demonstrated an interrelationship among cognitive processes, environmental events, and behavior, which is conveyed in the context of one's social behavior. Psychotherapists in North America endorse cognitive-behavioral interventions as the second most widely used treatment approach (i.e., with an eclectic approach being endorsed as first) (Bongar & Buetler, 1995). The cognitive processes that serve as the focus of treatment in CBT include perceptions, self-statements, attributions, expectations, beliefs, and images (Kazdin, 1994). Most cognitive-behavioral based techniques are applied in the context of psychotherapy sessions in which the clients are seen individually, or in a group, by professional therapists. Intervention programs are designed to help clients become aware of their maladaptive cognitive processes and teach them how to notice, catch, monitor, and interrupt the cognitive-affective-behavioral chains to produce more adaptive coping responses (Mahoney, 1994)....
CBT is the treatment option for some mental disorders, such as depression, dissociative identity disorder, eating disorders, generalized anxiety disorder, hypochondriasis, insomnia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and panic disorder without agoraphobia (Clark, 1986). In contrast, as Flannery-Schroeder & Kendall (2000) describe, CBT is an inappropriate treatment option for some patients. Patients with significant cognitive impairments (for example patients with traumatic brain injury or organic brain disease) and individuals who are not willing to take an active role in the therapy and treatment process are not desirable candidates.
This sounds weird since I want to join the Navy but I have a phobia of water. When it comes to the open ocean I get sea sick it is only on the open ocean however, put me in a boat on the lake and I’m fine. My dad and step-mom took me to Oregon a few years ago, and we took a trip on a boat. The boat started, we were seated on the bench in the middle of the deck, and we started off to the open ocean. There were a bunch of people who were turning green, literally. All of the sudden my heart rate spiked, I couldn’t get oxygen into my body my chest started pounding to the point I felt like it was going to jump right out of my rib cage., It never even occurred to me that I had an audience watching me as I was changing colors from green to purple to red and back to green, I can’t tell you what happened next, I passed out. Another major phobia of mine would be agoraphobia, it is the fear of crowds. I am a very introverted individual and I don’t like being in crowds, I get the same way I did on the boat in the open ocean. I feel my heart start to race, I get a shortness of breath, I get an uncomfortable feeling in my chest, and I start getting an intense fear of embarrassing
Having a specific phobia towards the natural environment may sound unrealistic but it is indeed much more common than people believe. A natural environment phobia is fear of one or more of the following: heights, storms, or water. About 75% of people with this specific phobia averse more than one of the fears listed (DSM- APA). However, there is a difference between being fearful of something and it being a personal phobia of an individual. If it is a phobia it will last more than six months. Anything shorter than six months is then dismissed as a temporary fear. In children, this anxiety will be expressed by crying, temper tantrums, freezing or clinging on to their caregiver (DSM-APA). This can also be seen in sever phobias in adults but rarely does the adult have a temper tantrum, rather, a more developed emotional response is provoked. Typically, the amount of anxiety or fear that is actually observed during a phobic episode is entirely inordinate to the actual threat that a specific phobia may have (DSM-A...
It is believed that Aversion therapy is questionable in it’s success for the long term, according
Cognitive therapy approaches of psychotherapy have proved to be one of the most effective psychological approaches for a wide range of behavioral problems. “CBT teaches anxiety reduction skills that people can use for the rest of their lives. Research shows the
There is an abundant amount of people who don’t trust therapy, believing it to be a waste of money (like my Grandpa does). Due to this there is ordinarily other means of overcoming thalassophobia, like “needle-less Acupuncture” and through the use of energy psychology. We must also understand that the ocean is more than likely safe, with instances of ocean related deaths being far less than road accident deaths. It is through this understanding that can help people rationalize the fear. Exposing oneself to the ocean can, overtime, also help overcome thalassophobia, like with