Eating Disorders

... Two-pronged approach may curb social phobia Two-pronged approach may curb social phobia Staff and agencies29 March, 2006 1 hour, 10 minutes ago NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Research suggests that D-cycloserine may be a good adjunct to exposure-based therapy in individuals with social anxiety disorder, a debilitating condition marked by an excessive fear and avoidance of situations in which a person feels he or she will be judged by others, such as public speaking or even eating in front of others.

Exposure therapy, which is commonly used to combat social phobia, relies on extinction to treat the fears underlying the disorder.

Lead investigator Dr.

Stefan G.

Hofmann of Boston University told Reuters Health that in conducting the study "we argued that D-cycloserine ...

which facilitates extinction learning in animals, should also enhance the effects of exposure therapy for social anxiety disorder in humans.

Our findings seem to support this notion." In the study, 27 individuals suffering from social anxiety disorder with significant public speaking anxiety participated in five therapy sessions, which emphasized exposure to increasingly challenging public speech situations.

One hour before each session, the participants were given a single dose of D-cycloserine or placebo.

Symptoms were assessed at baseline, just after the last session, and 1 month after the last session, by patient self-reports and reports of clinicians blinded to the treatment allocation.

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