A spiderless arachnophobia therapy: comparison between placebo and treatment groups and six-month follow-up study.

Abstract

We describe a new arachnophobia therapy that is specially suited for those individuals with severe arachnophobia who are reluctant to undergo direct or even virtual exposure treatments. In this therapy, patients attend a computer presentation of images that, while not being spiders, have a subset of the characteristics of spiders. The Atomium of Brussels is an example of such an image. The treatment group (n = 13) exhibited a significant improvement (time x group interaction: P = .0026) when compared to the placebo group (n = 12) in a repeated measures multivariate ANOVA. A k-means clustering algorithm revealed that, after 4 weeks of treatment, 42% of the patients moved from the arachnophobic to the nonarachnophobic cluster. Six months after concluding the treatment, a follow-up study showed a substantial consolidation of the recovery process where 92% of the arachnophobic patients moved to the nonarachnophobic cluster.

• Authors: Laura Carmilo Granado, Ronald Ranvaud, Javier Ropero Peláez
• Journal: Neural plasticity (Neural Plast) Vol. 2007 Pg. 10241 ( 2007) ISSN: 1687-5443 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 17713595 (Publication Type: Comparative Study, Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Placebos

Topics

• Adult
• Animals
• Follow-Up Studies
• Humans
• Middle Aged
• Nerve Net (physiology)
• Phobic Disorders (physiopathology, psychology, therapy)
• Photic Stimulation (methods)
• Placebos
• Spiders