News and Music Discovery
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Using Fear to Scare Away Mental Health Issues

Anthony/pexels.com

          New psychology research suggests the old cliche of 'facing your fears' might hold more truth than originally thought. MSU professor, Dr. Michael Bordieri, visited Sounds Good to discuss how fear might effectively scare away various mental health issues. 

         Since around the 1920s, psychologists have been using fear-inducing techniques to treat phobias and anxieties. This usually included brief and repeated exposure to the patient's triggers, which ended upon the completion of the session. For example, someone suffering from arachnophobia -- the fear of spiders -- might endure repeated interaction or exposure to spiders. The goal is to have the patients habituate, or become accustomed to, the cause of stress, fear or anxiety until the familiarity reduces the fear altogether. 
               New psychological research, however, suggests that maintaining that high-stress or frightened state for longer periods of time (after the session is completed) might be more beneficial in the treatment of mental health issues. Dr. Michael Bordieri, MSU professor of psychology, speaks with Tracy Ross about how these methods might be utilized and why they work. 

Tracy started working for WKMS in 1994 while attending Murray State University. After receiving his Bachelors and Masters degrees from MSU he was hired as Operations/Web/Sports Director in 2000. Tracy hosted All Things Considered from 2004-2012 and has served as host/producer of several music shows including Cafe Jazz, and Jazz Horizons. In 2001, Tracy revived Beyond The Edge, a legacy alternative music program that had been on hiatus for several years. Tracy was named Program Director in 2011 and created the midday music and conversation program Sounds Good in 2012 which he hosts Monday-Thursday. Tracy lives in Murray with his wife, son and daughter.
Melanie Davis-McAfee graduated from Murray State University in 2018 with a BA in Music Business. She has been working for WKMS as a Music and Operations Assistant since 2017. Melanie hosts the late-night alternative show Alien Lanes, Fridays at 11 pm with co-host Tim Peyton. She also produces Rick Nance's Kitchen Sink and Datebook and writes Sounds Good stories for the web.
Related Content