Editors note: This is the first in a four-part series about fear.

A rainbow-headed clown in floppy red shoes twisting a balloon into the shape of a dog is amusing to some people.

But others see that red nose, and their hearts pound, they feel faint or dizzy and their instinct tells them to run.

From clowns and ghosts to escalators, cockroaches and even vomit, fear can take almost any shape.

When it interferes with everyday functioning, that's when people tend to seek professional help, said Heather Chik, a clinical psychologist and director of the Anxiety & OCD Behavioral Health Center in Munster.

"Specific phobias are the most treatable anxiety problem out of all the anxiety disorders," Chik said.

An effective treatment is exposure therapy and often can be done in one full-day session. She described a "fear ladder" or hierarchy, in which the patient and psychologist establish challenges to overcome, which gradually become more intense.

If a person is afraid of dogs, the therapy might start by looking at pictures of dogs, then looking at videos of them, then going to a pet store, then touching the glass and eventually taking a dog for a walk, Chik said.

"We never go to the next level until they're comfortable with the level before that," she said.

Exposure therapy teaches patients that anxiety does not last forever.

See the article here:
Science of fear: Clowns, dead things can terrorize, traumatize