Question

Please respond to the following question. This discussion requires 300 words and a reference.
What is Systematic Desensitization? Why do we use it with mental health patients? What patients may benefit from systematic desensitization?

Answer 1

Systematic desensitization is a behavioral technique where by a person is gradually exposed to an anxiety-producing object, event, or place while being engaged in some type of relaxation at the same time in order to reduce the symptoms of anxiety. It was developed by Wolpe during the 1950s

This therapy aims to remove the fear response of a phobia, and substitute a relaxation response to the conditional stimulus gradually using counter conditioning. There are three phases to the treatment:

First, the patient is taught a deep muscle relaxation technique and breathing exercises. E.g. control over breathing, muscle detensioning or meditation. This step is very important because of reciprocal inhibition, where once response is inhibited because it is incompatible with another. In the case of phobias, fears involves tension and tension is incompatible with relaxation.

Second, the patient creates a fear hierarchy starting at stimuli that create the least anxiety (fear) and building up in stages to the most fear provoking images.

Third, the patient works their way up the fear hierarchy, starting at the least unpleasant stimuli and practising their relaxation technique as they go. When they feel comfortable with this (they are no longer afraid) they move on to the next stage in the hierarchy. If the client becomes upset they can return to an earlier stage and regain their relaxed state.

Systematic desensitization is highly effective where the problem is a learned anxiety of specific objects/situations, e.g. phobias. However, systematic desensitization is not effective in treating serious mental disorders like depression and schizophrenia. Systematic desensitization is based on the idea that abnormal behaviour is learned. The biological approach would disagree and say we are born with a behaviour and therefore it must be treated medically.Systematic desensitization is a treatment method that increases the feeling of self-control; that is, the therapist suggests, guides or helps, but does not represent the nucleus of the treatment. The risk of dependence upon the therapist or of perceiving improvements as being external to the patient are thus minimised in this technique.