Two patients with phobias for medical procedures and trauma developed
"vasovagal syncope" with hypotension and bradycardia while viewing a
videotape of a venous cutdown. Eleven hours of exposure therapy per patient
eliminated both the phobic and fainting responses. These facts support
existing hypotheses that phobias of this type and vasovagal fainting are
associated and that vasovagal syncope is a diphasic response. They do not
support hypotheses that vasovagal syncope follows sudden cessation of
anxiety, that that counter-conditioning is necessary for successful
treatment, or that novel symptoms emerge following behavioral treatment of
these phobias.
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