Exposure Therapy

UF Health Podcasts

If even the premise of the movie “Snakes on a Plane” sent you into a flop sweat, here’s some possibly comforting news.

Those who suffer from two phobias and go through exposure therapy that targets one fear can get some relief for both — even if the fears are completely different.

German university researchers conducted a study with 50 participants who all suffered both from acrophobia, which is a fear of heights, and arachnophobia, a fear of spiders. About half the participants underwent one exposure therapy session for their fear of spiders, but in doing so, found their fear of heights reduced, too. The remaining study subjects were assigned to a control group not exposed to spiders.

Exposure therapy is a common type of phobia treatment. It’s just like it sounds: The sufferer is gradually exposed to the things or situations they fear. A panicky flyer might listen to the sounds associated with an airplane until it slowly becomes more familiar. Someone fearful of germs might touch a contaminated surface or handle raw meat.

The therapy also helps those with panic disorders, post-traumatic stress syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The researchers found that the exposure therapy participants who feared both spiders and heights found at least a 15% reduction in their acrophobia after just one session.

The study built on the team’s earlier work, which found that people with more than one similar fear — in this case spiders and cockroaches — who underwent exposure therapy for spiders also feared cockroaches less afterward.

Next up? More research to understand why the effect transfers from one fear to another.

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