Depression, anxiety disorders and phobias are common mental health problems associated with considerable occupational and interpersonal impairment. Although there is substantial evidence to support the use of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) in the treatment of these disorders, access is limited. Computerized cognitive behaviour therapy (CCBT) is one of a variety of aids to self-management tha...

A round 6% of the adult population experiences strong anxiety and dizziness when exposed, or in anticipation of exposure, to a wide range of height-related situations (e.g., stairs, elevators, terraces, high floors in tall buildings, plane trips), devoting big efforts to avoid them. Severe fear of heights is known as acrophobia, an anxiety disorder that belongs to the category of specific phobi...

Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent mental health concern facing adolescents today, yet they are largely undertreated. This is especially concerning given that there are fairly good data to support an evidence-based approach to the diagnosis and treatment of anxiety, and also that untreated, these problems can continue into adulthood, growing in severity. Thus, knowing how to recognize and...

The purpose of this chapter is to summarize the current status of research with respect to the clinical features, course, and prognosis of specific phobia, social phobia, panic disorder, and separation anxiety disorder (SAD) in children. In this context we will consider the salient factors involved in the differential diagnosis of these four disorders. Finally we will provide some directions fo...

was the case of 'Little Hans'. In 1905, Sigmund Freud described how phobias in the five-year-old boy had been treated analytically. From this starting point, a body of knowledge has been built up about disturbances in the behaviour pattern of children and adolescents and about the therapeutic methods for dealing with them in this way. Obviously, the child psychotherapist must know and understan...

Eight subjects with severe phobias to insects and small animals had blood samples taken for measurement of prolactin concentration at regular intervals during five sessions of 3 hr duration each. Severe anxiety was induced by treating the phobia with in vivo flooding during the middle hour of the third and fourth sessions. Despite intense anxiety experienced by the subjects, they showed no chan...

objective : this study examined forty nine instances of phobic adolescents pheromena classified in the following seven categories: school phobia, agoraphobia, zoophobia, claustrophobia, social phobia, physician fear, exam anxiety. method: the subjects were 120 female and 120 male high-school and pre-university students selected through random cluster sampling. the data were analyzed through des...

One hundred and ninety-six youth, ages 7-16, who fulfilled Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) criteria for various specific phobias were randomized to a one-session exposure treatment, education support treatment, or a wait list control group. After the waiting period, the wait list participants were offered treatment and, if interested, rerandomized to 1 of the 2 a...