Into The Panic Room on 91Èȱ¬ Three
Three days, two phobias, one Panic Room
Case studies
Case study one
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Julia Ruddick, 47, an O2 sales advisor from Warrington, feels sick if she sees her phobic object on the floor. If it's attached to an item of clothing it's just about bearable, but if they're in the "wrong place" her stomach turns. Her phobia – Buttons.
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She has no idea how her phobia developed, but feels that everyone who hears about her phobia laughs at her. "I am totally embarrassed about it."
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Julia volunteered to take part in The Panic Room as she was determined that one day she would be able to laugh along with her work colleagues over the phobia. She spent three days working with psychologist Lucy Atcheson to try and overcome her deep-rooted fear.
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Weeks after her Panic Room experiences Julia sums up how she feels: "If something's plagued your life for like 40 plus years and it isn't doing anymore, you've got to be grateful. I am determined not to let it beat me again."
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Case study two
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Sarah Bromley, 35, is a make up artist from Sheffield. She developed her phobia while living in the Middle East as a child.
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Aged seven, a cockroach became entangled in her hair, Sarah screamed for help, but her parents had great difficulty removing it, and as a result of this traumatic experience she began to develop an extreme phobic reaction to them.
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For the next 28 years Sarah's phobia increasingly impacted on her life. She refused to go on a trekking holiday with her husband, music producer Roo, for fear of coming face-to-face with cockroaches and has also had to turn down work abroad because of her phobia.
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After years, Sarah bravely volunteered to enter The Panic Room. Over the course of three days she underwent a course of treatment with Dr Felix Economakis.
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Using a combination of clinical hypnosis, systematic desensitisation and graded exposure, she gradually became more comfortable in the presence of cockroaches, but how would she cope with a giant Madagascan cockroach awaiting her in the final Panic Room?
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A few weeks after her treatment Sarah has for the first time been able to visit her parents in Spain without fear of breaking into cold sweat and panic should she see a cockroach, and is overjoyed at the change she's experienced - "It's a huge relief, that black cloud's completely gone."
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Case study three
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Gareth Brennan, a 28-year-old singer from Port Talbot in Wales, feels sick at even the thought of fish.
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Since the age of seven he's felt nauseous if he smells fish, and can't walk down the fish aisle at his local supermarket without throwing up.
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Gareth can't bear to be in the house if his daughter has had fish fingers for tea as he finds the smell overwhelming. Eating out is a nightmare and he often has to leave friends and family if someone is eating fish on the next table.
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He'd love to be able to go out without worrying about it, and take his daughter to the seaside which is a stone's throw from his house.
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Not only does the phobia ruin Gareth's social life - it is now starting to impede on his professional career. Gareth has thrown up on stage whilst singing because someone was eating prawns and it terrified him.
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He says: "It can really affect my job, if someone is eating fish nearby, I can be sick on stage. I swear to God if someone can cure me of this I will believe anything."
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Gareth was treated by Felix Economakis, using clinical hypnosis, together with graded exposure to fish. By the second day of treatment he is faced with watching a fish being gutted. On the third and final day he faces his worst fear and the biggest challenge yet – eating fish.
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