Fighting phobias with Cortisol

[person54321]

Here's a new study about overcoming phobias that found that using the stress hormone Cortisol while using exposure therapy vastly sped up recovery time. If this works as well as they say it does, it could be a miracle for us phobics!

http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/n...e-some-phobias

http://www.latimes.com/health/booste...,7310272.story

[sophiee]

I didn't go to the links sorry \: i've been pretty much desperate to get over this phobia especially lately because i've been feeling more nauseated every single night... day time im okay but when it comes to being night time, i get really nauseas and i go into anxiety mode. Anyway, is this some sort of pill? If so.. i'll be honest, i feel hesitant towards pills since i dont want to become reliant to it.

[KaydeeJayde]

Cortisol is a steroid hormone. These kinds of studies are HIGHLY experimental for the moment. Keep in mind it could be ten years before it's a valid treatment.

[person54321]

Actually, administering a drug that has already been approved for use as safe, just for an off-label purpose, doesn't require the same kind of testing or approval since the question isn't "is it safe" it's, it's "is it effective?" So if the study is replicated a few times with the same results, it's up to individual psychiatrists whether or not to use the treatment. Since it's only been one study, it's worth being skeptical. But if more people try it and it's fairly effective, it would be worth trying for those of us who feel like we'll never overcome our phobias.

Cortisol would not be something you take consistently (that sounds pretty unpleasant), it would be something you take before you go in for your treatment. So there is NO risk of becoming dependent. It's not an anti-anxiety med, the opposite, it acts on the fear center of your brain inducing stress actually. It doesn't seek to temporarily help you deal with anxiety or mask it like anti-anxiety drugs, it's a treatment to get to the root of the phobia to try to make it something you can live with.