jooyous comments on Rationality Quotes February 2013 - Less Wrong

2 Post author: arundelo 05 February 2013 10:20PM

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Comment author: Emily 02 February 2013 06:47:35PM 1 point [-]

I think cognitive behavioural therapy for phobias, which seems to work pretty well in a large number of cases, actually relies on helping people see that their fear is irrational.

Comment author: jooyous 02 February 2013 06:58:04PM 4 points [-]

As someone with a phobia, I can tell you from experience that realizing your fear is irrational doesn't actually make the fear go away. Sometimes it even makes you feel more guilty for having it in the first place. Realizing it's irrational just helps you develop coping strategies for acting normal when you're freaking out in public.

Comment author: Emily 02 February 2013 08:20:33PM 0 points [-]

Oh sure, I can definitely believe that. Maybe a better choice of wording above would have been "internalise" rather than "see", which would rather negate my point, I guess. Or maybe it works differently for some people. I don't have any experience with phobias or CBT myself.