Allison was on Newstalk 106-108 fm to discuss the effect phobias have on the public and how it is portrayed within our society and culture with specific reference to films such as jaws, Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, Indiana Jones with the help of film expert Mike Sheridan. Fionn Davenport, Culture Shocks’ presenter investigated how specific phobias affected one time phobia sufferer Michelle Wilson who had gone to the bWell Clinic to get over her adverse fear of mice (murophobia ) and rats. Michelle stated ‘that her husband was asking her to get the problem sorted for years’ and it came to a head when Michelle knew that there were some mice in the house and moved back home to her parents for a week with her baby until she knew that they were gone.
Michelle explained to Fionn that the fear of even discussing the phobia had been the primary deterrent. Allison explained that this is a common complaint from people who experience phobias because even mentioning the word can elicit the fear response and this is one of the reasons that our treatment at the clinic is different because it is not systematic desensitization which gradually brings the phobic in contact with their fear. Our updated techniques bring the person through their fear in a comfortable and enjoyable way.
Michelle told Fionn how she had called mice and rats ‘m’s and ‘r’s’ but she found after treatment that she not only got over her fear of mice and rats but that the treatment experience was a very positive one.
Fionn explored the area of anxiety and fear and we were inundated with texts from people who found that they were experiencing panic attack and anxiety on regular basis. From a cultural and societal point of view Fionn asked if this could be attributed to the fear generated by constant news flow. Allison stated that she often asks her depressed clients to defer from watching the news and reading the newspapers as it has been correlated with an increase in depressed feelings. She also added that we live in a very fast paced society, with high levels of uncertainty for people, uncertainty in their jobs, the pressure to look good and this is a contributing factor in an increase in depression and suicide. In the paradox of choice happiness decrease has been related directly in people having too many choices leading to a sense of being overwhelmed and anxious.
