Inhibition of hypervigilance in the treatment of traumatic simple phobias:three case examples

Objective: In traumatic simple phobia (TSP) fear of retraumatisation tends to be enduring and may show little reduction with time despite frequent and prolonged exposure. This paper describes how hypervigilant behaviour may a ccount for this enduring response by interfering with exposure. Method: Three case histories illustrating the clinical features of TSP and its treatment using in vivo exposure coupled with direct inhibition of hype rvigilance are presented. Result: In all three cases, reduction of anxiety occurred with spontaneous generalisation of improvement. Conclusions: The efficacy of in vivo therapeutic exposure for fear of retra umatisation may be enhanced by the use of strategies to inhibit hypervigila nt behaviour.