Around 20% of the Dutch experience an anxiety disorder such as a specific or social phobia in their lifetime, and half of them develop their phobia before the age of 18. So why not start facing our fears at the time we develop our phobia instead of waiting until things get scarier and scarier?
Distressing mental images can severely disrupt a person’s daily life. A psychotherapeutic technique called Imagery Rescripting can reduce the impact of traumatic memories in individuals diagnosed with depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, and it may also work when people visualize a stressful future.