Assessment of the Effectiveness of an Exposure Technique Intervention in a Case of Amaxophobia

ABSTRACT

Amaxophobia, or driving phobia, is an anxiety disorder; more specifically a situational phobia (SP). Main symptoms of SP may include an excessive and irrational fear to certain stimuli, to which exposure produces high anxiety levels, as well as the development of avoidance mechanisms or confrontation, at the expense of a high distress. Its prognosis is chronic in the absence of treatment, but empirical evidence reveals a high efficacy of psychological interventions based on exposure techniques. The case of a 47 years old female requesting treatment for an intense driving fear is presented. The assessment was made through an ad hoc self-report of anxiogenic episodes, the Short Form Health Survey (SF-12), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). It was conducted a cognitive-behavioral intervention based on imagination and real life exposure techniques, along with breathing and relaxation techniques. After 10 sessions her anxiety levels and her negative affects decreased significantly, allowing her to resume driving and revealing the efficacy of the intervention (AU)