Climbing the phobia ladder

[Mark]

I saw a very interesting article recently about the so-called “phobia ladder” which has proven very useful for many people. You simply expose yourself to your phobia and take it stage by stage. When you start you will get to stage one and then pull back, the next time you’re feeling stronger you will get to stage two and then pull back and so on.

One example was a phobia of dogs where somebody would look at pictures, pull back, then watch a video of a dog, look at dogs through window and then slowly but surely get closer and closer to a dog on a regular basis. The idea is that at the end of this process the fear has gradually been eroded and your phobia reduced or disappeared.

 

[Beattheblues]

I have kind of try this in my mind, setting myself targets in the short term and then pushing further and further in the medium to long term. This is one of the techniques I would personally recommend.

 

[Mark]

Perhaps a phobia ladder could be added to the forum so that members can track their progress and their targets?

 

[KirstyMarks]

Hi Mark,

Wonderful for bringing this up. I hope im ok to post a few points on this

The phobic ladder is basically a form of system desensitization, where a client is slowly exposed whilst building on coping mechanisms in during this exposure so that they learn to deal with it whilst being calm... Whilst it is great, I believe its somewhat barbaric, for you as a person.

If you have an extreme phobia of wasps and bees, going out into a bee farm and getting honey straight away may not be wise. It works for some, but it is an technique which from a therapist heads perspective may not always be suitable.

Could I follow you and see how you get on though should you use this? I would be interested to see in your results

K

 

[Mark]

It is great to get feedback from others with expertise in this field - I will give you an example of something which happened to me recently.

I have been around dogs for most of my life but a few weeks ago I was coming out of the office and saw a lady with a dog. She had taken the dog for a walk and it was "boisterous" although unfortunately my reading of the situation was very wrong and when I went down to stroke the dog it jumped up snarling and snapping going from my face. Luckily enough I was able to turn away at the last minute but it sunk its teeth into my elbow through my shirt and it was hanging on. I literally had to shake the dog off my elbow which was bleeding and I needed a tetanus injection.

I have never ever been feared of dogs but since that day I have been a little more wary of stroking dogs waiting outside shops, friends pets, etc. Just lately I have started to push myself to overcome this phobia a little more by talking to the dogs as I pass them, catching their eye and on occasion lightly stroking them. I am making progress but I know exactly what you mean about this being potentially dangerous for some people. I will persevere and I will get back my trust of dogs but whether I will ever again trust any dog 100% (obviously with the exception of my dog in the avatar ) remains to be seen.

 

[KirstyMarks]

It is great to get feedback from others with expertise in this field - I will give you an example of something which happened to me recently.

I have been around dogs for most of my life but a few weeks ago I was coming out of the office and saw a lady with a dog. She had taken the dog for a walk and it was "boisterous" although unfortunately my reading of the situation was very wrong and when I went down to stroke the dog it jumped up snarling and snapping going from my face. Luckily enough I was able to turn away at the last minute but it sunk its teeth into my elbow through my shirt and it was hanging on. I literally had to shake the dog off my elbow which was bleeding and I needed a tetanus injection.

I have never ever been feared of dogs but since that day I have been a little more wary of stroking dogs waiting outside shops, friends pets, etc. Just lately I have started to push myself to overcome this phobia a little more by talking to the dogs as I pass them, catching their eye and on occasion lightly stroking them. I am making progress but I know exactly what you mean about this being potentially dangerous for some people. I will persevere and I will get back my trust of dogs but whether I will ever again trust any dog 100% (obviously with the exception of my dog in the avatar ) remains to be seen.

Awesome that you are making great strides Mark! It seems as if your techniques are really helping you move forward! Great job

 

[Mark]

Sometimes when I am tired with work, etc it can be difficult to get motivated but when full of beans and energy I find that a Positive Mental Attitude goes a long way to making life so much more enjoyable and keeping the dread phobias/anxiety in their boxes

 

[Andy]

Desensitisation can be a long, slow process and is far from ideal.

Let's say there's 10 rungs on your ladder, if you're lucky you only use ten trips up the ladder, progressing one rung further each time, however, that's ten lots of anxiety, and theres always the chance you slip back down the ladder. A term step process may end up being 15 steps (and so fifteen loads of anxiety plus negative feelings due to each slip up).

I'm not saying it doesn't work, in fact for some it may be the best option, but for the majority of people I'd say that there's many much better options.

 

[Craig]

I agree.

There are other ways which won't add undue stress, anxiety or fear when removing phobias, anxiety or fear.

Craig

 

[Mark]

Thanks @Andy I appreciate and understand everything that you say but wonder what is the best way to monitor your progress when fighting your phobias?

 

[Craig]

They are not something that essentially can be efficiently monitored. The reason for this is that a phobic reaction is instant. You cannot gradually have a phobic response. The easiest way to to monitor is whether or not it happens. This obviously can be demonstrated when the phobic response is recoded and you do not react to the stimulus the same way.

Craig.