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They are triggered at the sight of an object, an animal, or the idea of leaving home or being locked up somewhere. If phobias can make you laugh, however, these are real pathologies, which can be terribly disabling. And affect 10% of the population, especially women. The good news is that it is possible to heal.
Guest of the show "Without Rendez-Vous", Professor Antoine Pelissolo, head of the psychiatric department at the Henri Mondor Hospital in Créteil, confirms it. In the best of cases, phobic fears disappear by themselves, even if they seem very severe. In small children for example, many pass without the need to intervene. However, it is not useless to "make an assessment of things" between 5 and 10 years if the phobia is still there.
"Disobeying his fear"
For others, "the only treatment possible is to disobey his fear," says Professor Antoine Pelissolo. In the case of a simple phobia, which corresponds to the fear of an animal or a thing, "you have to get closer to the object of your fear in stages, to support what it does to you. will adjust to something that is not dangerous. "
What must be integrated, insists the specialist, is that "we do not die of fear". Because many patients are well aware that this spider or dog they are afraid of panic will not hurt them. On the other hand, they may panic at the idea of panicking and fearing, for example, to choke out of fear.
Behavioral and cognitive therapies
Other phobias are more complex to treat. This is the social phobia, "which corresponds to the fear of others and their judgment", explains Antoine Pelissolo, and agoraphobia "which really impacts all movements" and can sometimes push people to stop to leave their home. In these cases, "we make a consultation with a psychologist or a psychiatrist", details the professor. "There are behavioral and cognitive therapies (CBT), we will try to peel the problem, understand the beliefs behind the fears, defuse those beliefs before confronting each other."
These therapies can be accompanied in the most severe cases, with a specialist who goes to people, or helps them to take the subway, or get back in their car. For some cases, it is possible to use virtual reality. A phobia of the plane or the car can be treated, at least in part, with simulation exercises.
Medicines sparingly
"You can do things a little distance but the only way, after identifying if there is not another pathology behind as a depression, is the gradual accompaniment", summarizes Professor Pelissolo. The programs last several weeks, three months on average. And the doctor confirms that the results are "good". In his unit, "more than half of the phobias are really improved with these methods".
What about the use of drugs? It depends, but parsimony is de rigueur. "Not all phobic patients are anxious, so long-term treatment can not be a drug," says Pelissolo. "On the other hand, in case of panic attacks, they can be blocked with anti-depressants, social phobia, which is constant, can also be reduced with these treatments, but always with one more therapy." In case of phobic fear, the simplest is to turn directly to a psychologist.