Can a high-tech treatment help combat some of our oldest fears?

Conclusion This experimental study assessed whether it is possible to counter-condition people against their fear memories by using reward without actually having to re-expose the person to the fearful stimulus. The researchers conclude that they have shown this can be done, all with participants remaining unaware of the content and purpose of the procedure. They further suggest the procedure may be an initial step towards novel treatments for fear-related disorders such as phobia and PTSD, via unconscious processing. While these findings show promise, there are some key limitations, the main one being the small number of healthy participants who had fear to colours induced by giving them tolerable electric shocks. This was also an artificial scenario. The "fear" or threat was very mild, compared to the threats people may fear or have experienced in real life. The exposure in the form of different coloured lines was also very basic and simple to reproduce compared to complex and multidimensional real-life fears and traumas. As such we cannot know if the same findings would be seen in people with complex disorders such as PTSD. Also, as this was an experiment with no follow-up period, we do not know if this conditioning against fear is long lasting. Much more research would be needed to confirm these findings. It's normal to experience upsetting and confusing thoughts after a traumatic event, but in most people these naturally improve over a few weeks. You should vis...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Mental health Neurology Source Type: news