Part 3 Primal Fears - BBC Explorations

Jackie is petrified of feathers, Ryan cant fly, and Trevors scared of heights. Irrational phobias are damaging their lives. Will the latest treatments help like dropping them in at the deep end?

When fear goes wrong it can turn into a phobia an irrational fear so strong it sometimes ruins lives.

Jacqueline Kelly is petrified of feathers. Just seeing a bird can send her into a state of hysteria, so she cant even take her daughter to the park to feed the ducks. But then she finds the courage to visit a psychologist. Using a treatment called cognitive behaviour therapy he gradually forces her to confront her worst fear. Her first 45-minute session is painful - but the results are dramatic.

Ryan Hackett loves roller coasters but is terrified of flying. He lives in Great Britain, so how will he get to the USA to ride one of the worlds largest roller coasters? With just days to find a cure he tries to force himself to fly in a small private aircraft. But at the last moment he pulls out hes just too scared. Then he contacts a hypnotherapist Trevor Swales is a builder. But because hes terrified of heights he can only work on buildings, which are no taller than one storey high. His phobia is such a handicap he decides to visit a clinic in Germany, which specialises in a radical therapy called flooding.

Flooding involves hitting phobics with a massive dose of their worst fear. And theres no chance of escape. The next three days are like a horror movie for Trevor. First hes forced to climb to the top of a church spire, then a huge tower with glass sides. Just when he thinks things cant get any worse, they do. Hes raised into the air on a fire engines ladder.

There are tears and foul language. But like Jacqueline and Ryan, Trevor shows remarkable courage and an incredible result.

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[khodshifteh]

i used to be afraid of water and that kept me from learning swimming for 25 years trying,i would panic in swimming pools .then i came to the point that i WANT to change it ,i learned swimming in 2 months then even went further and got my life guard liscence after 3 months training and still i was so excited with my achievment that signed in for synchronized swimming program :)

my next challange would be overcomming acrophobia-fear of higth,even thinking of it make me shiver,but i 'll do it

[hstera]

seccond :(

[angelwingprophecy]

i'm scared of heights.. its easy for me to climb (if i don't look down) but not going down bec. i have to look down....

[xLurycz]

Trevor - "I'ma put my self through hell"

Doctor - "Very good description..." LOL xD

[Falloutman216]

He's not scared of flying...but's scared of hights, how's that gonna work?

[deaconredwhiteandblu]

@khodshifteh Try skydiving, I know it sounds ridiculous but it really puts things into perspective, I dont like heights much but after doing skydiving it made me more confident :)

[FemmeBaer]

if you´re scared of hights, that´s more difficult to handle than being affraid of an object, which you can close your eyes from, like in my phobia. But in this case there is no escape. Eeeek.

[Scarytail]

i don't think anyone should force anyone to confront their fear, that probably is not a good idea.

[jonathanjmas]

anyone afraid of spiders?

[DRichW]

decaalv, I totally sympathise with you, as I do with the person in this video. I am a grown man but have been reduced to tears when it comes to heights. I'm also fine with flying and on higher floors (I live quite high up in an apartment building, in fact).

There is no reason for this it's irrational and a pure affliction. I have tried searching my childhood for signs of trauma but there simply weren't any.

Augmented reality looks like the best hope for treatment at the moment.

[invaderpink]

That one German doctor has like the best accent evar!

[deathendz]

I got over my fear of heights by a simple solution, my dad got me and those free fall roller coasters in gold coast austrillia 40 stories up for 1 minute, then followed by free fall, I nearly shat myself but after that no height scared me