Want to cure a phobia? Simply observe others with the same phobia.
According to the Karolinska Institutet In Sweden, after doing a study that involved showing a series of faces associated to the participant that also included three electric shocks without a warning used to “associate the target face with the electric shock” reduced the fear as opposed to when a face was not present with an electric shock.
Medical News Today writes:
The findings of the study revealed that participants who watched the movie clip that included a person showed a significantly lower fear response to the target face, compared with those who watched the clip that did not include a person.
Additionally, when the participants who viewed the movie clip of the person received three electric shocks without warning upon seeing the target face, they showed no sign of reinstated fear.
Sources
- Phobias may be cured by watching others, study shows (Medical News Today: September 17, 2013)
- Watching Others Can Help Ease a Phobia (Rick Nauert: Psych Central: September 17, 2013)
