Phobias arise through learning processes, so it is also possible to unlearn them. Bochum psychologists are using various interventions to help those affected conquer their fears.

If you are afraid of spiders, you are in good company: arachnophobia is one of the most common phobias. The proven most successful remedy for this is exposure therapy: you expose yourself to the fear-inducing stimulus and experience a kind of disappointment. What happens is not what you feared. This breaks the link between stimulus and fear - at least for most people. As it doesn't work for everyone and the fear sometimes returns, researchers at Ruhr-Universität Bochum want to improve the therapy with targeted strategies. Rubin, the science magazine of Ruhr-Universität Bochum, reports on this.