Has anyone attempted self administered exposure therapy?

[Aspie Grrrl]

I've tried allowing myself to watch it on TV (or seeing it accidentally not by choice) as well as listening to others v*ing, but it only seems to make it worse. I was extremely ill with noro myself last winter and have developed some sort of PTSD and recurring nightmares about it :\

I have a sort of photographic memory for past events. Vivid disturbing images stick in my mind or come at me as I'm falling asleep. (OCD-ish "intrusive thoughts" I guess). Being stuck with those tormenting sounds/images is a looming possibility with any sort of traumatic event (which is why I've never gone to a funeral - I don't want to remember someone lifeless in a coffin).

I know that exposure therapy involves calming techniques and altering your thought processes, but it just isn't enough to prevent the physical response of panic that I get from this phobia. Every time I go through that panic, it takes something out of me and leaves me permanently more depressed. Apparently there is a biological reason why stress/anxiety cause depression in some people, which I only learned a few days ago but knew instinctively since I was a child dealing with this phobia. The depression stays long after the stressor goes away - that's my fear. I've not found a way to treat the depression yet.