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Intensive One-Session Treatment of Specific Phobias pp 3–18Cite as

Specific Phobia: Phenomenology, Epidemiology, and Etiology

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Part of the book series: Autism and Child Psychopathology Series ((ACPS))

Abstract

Tamara (aged 21 years) is in despair. She and her husband recently bought the house of their dreams: an old, refurbished farmhouse, beautifully situated in the countryside. However, she has now found that she cannot live there. The reason is there are spiders. Tamara has always disliked these creepy, dirty animals, but as long as she was living in the city, it was not causing her much problem because she hardly ever encountered them. In the new house, however, the spiders appear to be everywhere: in the garden, the kitchen, and—most annoying of all—in the bedroom under the authentic thatched roof. She no longer dares to sleep there, and now stays with her parents who have an apartment in town. Her husband is complaining about her preoccupation with spiders and starting to lose his patience. Tamara herself realizes there really is nothing to be afraid of, and that spiders are in fact harmless creatures. However, as soon as she sees one, she is completely seized by panic/terror, and the only thing she wants is to run away. Occasionally this has led to dangerous situations. For example, recently, Tamara suddenly stopped her car in the middle of the motorway, to flee in panic from the vehicle because she discovered a spider on the rearview mirror.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Psychology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, Suite T13–37, 1738, 3000, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Peter Muris

  2. Department of Clinical Psychological Science, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Harald Merckelbach

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  1. Peter Muris
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  2. Harald Merckelbach
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Correspondence to Peter Muris .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Psychology, Louisiana State University, Audubon Hall 236, Baton Rouge, 70803, Louisiana, USA

    Thompson E. Davis III

  2. Child Study Center, Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, 24060, Virginia, USA

    Thomas H. Ollendick

  3. Dept. Psychology, Stockholm University, Frescati Hagväg 8, Stockholm, 106 91, Sweden

    Lars-Göran Öst

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Muris, P., Merckelbach, H. (2012). Specific Phobia: Phenomenology, Epidemiology, and Etiology. In: Davis III, T., Ollendick, T., Öst, LG. (eds) Intensive One-Session Treatment of Specific Phobias. Autism and Child Psychopathology Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3253-1_1

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