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This week on Healthwatch, we've been talking about the brain and nervous system. Diseases that affect the brain and nervous system can be complex and difficult to understand or treat, but research is deepening our understanding of how these diseases work.
There are some areas where we do understand how the brain works, such as phobias.
Dr. Robin Jarrett, a psychiatrist at UT Southwestern Medical Center, says simple phobias are a learned or conditioned response. The fear usually develops when a person has an unpleasant experience associated with a certain setting, thing or activity. The way to beat a phobia is to expose yourself gradually to the thing you fear in a safe environment. Over time, the anxiety associated with the phobia will go away. In some cases, cognitive therapy may be needed to completely end a phobia.
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July 2005
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