host:
I see.
Dr.:
I had a patient recently that had a terrible phobia
of elevators. Let’s call her Maggie. One problem
Maggie faced was that a recent job promotion required
her to move her office from the first floor in her building
up to the tenth floor. She was certain that the elevator
would break while she was inside, and she’d run out
of air, or the elevator would fall. Her friends tried to
reason with her, but it was pointless. She had a strong
fear of elevators.
host:
That’s awful! So have you treated Maggie’s
problem? Were you able to find a solution?
Dr.:
We were successful, but it took some time. The
first step was that Maggie needed to realize she
needed help. Surprisingly, people are sometimes very
reluctant to seek help, or don’t know where to get
help. Phobias may be painful, but are almost always
treatable. It’s much easier than people think. Maggie
and I did some relaxation techniques together. These
techniques were useful because they helped her avoid
the physical symptoms. I taught her to take slow, deep
breaths. Then she was able to think more rationally
about the situation. We then discussed each thought
that scared her. It was interesting that she never actually
experienced a problem with an elevator. And we
talked about how it’s always possible to breathe in an
elevator. I was worried that she might also have a fear
of closed places, but this wasn’t the case.
host:
So how did Maggie get to the point where she
could take the elevator to work?
Dr.:
She had to face her fears. After talking about
her fears and learning to relax, she started to watch
the elevator. She just watched people getting on and
off, smiling and talking with others. The next day, she
watched it again. But then we stepped in the elevator,
together. It didn’t go anywhere—we just let the doors
open and close several times. She was nervous, but by
breathing deeply and relaxing, she was in control. The
next day, we repeated the first two steps, and then finally
took the elevator up, but only one floor. We repeated this
over several days, adding one floor each day.
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