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Scientists Have a Secret Weapon to Defeat Arachnophobia, And It's Hidden Inside You

Scientists Have a Secret Weapon to Defeat Arachnophobia, And It's Hidden Inside You

Millions of people around the world are affected by arachnophobia – the unreasonable fear of spiders, which evidence suggests could be an innate human response embedded by evolution inside the brain. But while the fear may be a relic of an ancient survival mechanism, the anxiety it provokes is something most arachnophobes today would rather be free of. Now, an experimental new treatment could help grant their wish, courtesy of the pulse of their own beating hearts. Scientists

Weird Science: The bizarre way to overcome your phobias

Weird Science: The bizarre way to overcome your phobias

Scared of spiders? It sounds strange, but being shown one at the exact time of your heartbeat might help. And the approach could be applied to any other phobia – whether that's clowns, heights or even types of food. An author of a new study describing the intervention said most of us have phobias, and while current treatments usually involved exposing people to their fears, these could take a long time. "Our work shows that how we respond to our fears can depend on whether we

Treating Phobias With Each Heartbeat

Treating Phobias With Each Heartbeat

A new U.K. study finds that exposing people with phobias to their specific fear at the exact time their heart beats can lead to a reduction in the phobia’s severity. “Many of us have phobias of one kind or another — it could be spiders, or clowns or even types of food,” said principle investigator Hugo Critchley, Chair of Psychiatry at Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) in the U.K. “Treatment usually involves exposing the person to their fear, but this can take a long

How a cure for arachnophobia and other commons phobias could be just around the corner

How a cure for arachnophobia and other commons phobias could be just around the corner

Spiders, heights, clowns, small spaces and crowded places - you name it and there's someone, somewhere that doesn't like it. Or even worse, has a chronic phobia of it. But now, scientists claim they've found a cure to solving these common fears. Researchers discovered exposing people to their fears reduces their anxiety - if it's timed with the exact beat of their hearts. Read the full article: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/health/how-cure-arachnophobia-commons-phobias

Heartbeats could be key to treating fear of spiders

Heartbeats could be key to treating fear of spiders

Living in fear of spiders can be pretty tough, particularly in autumn, when the nimble eight-legged creatures are most visible as males scurry around to find a mate. Now, arachnophobes might finally get some respite, as new research claims that exposing people to spiders at the exact moment their heart beats may help relieve them of their phobias. Published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, the study claims that the key is to track a person's heart rhythms while exposing

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Interoception: BBC Radio 4

Interoception: BBC Radio 4

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