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Joan Stephenson, PhD

JAMA. 2006;295:2240.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Treatment with cortisol can reduce phobia-associated fear and anxiety, according to findings by researchers from Switzerland, Germany, and the United States (Soravia LM et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006;103:5585-5590).

A new study suggests that treatment with cortisol can reduce symptoms in individuals with fear of spiders or other phobias. (Photo credit: Sergey Zholudov/iStockphoto.com)

Because fearful situations can trigger the release of cortisol in the brain and cortisol is also known to impair memory retrieval, the researchers reasoned that giving cortisol before exposure to a phobia trigger (such as a spider) might reduce anxiety by blocking fear memories associated with that stimulus. In studies of 60 volunteers with social or spider phobia, participants were given a glucocorticoid (cortisol or cortisone) or placebo 1 hour before facing their particular fear (either giving a speech and performing an arithmetic task before an audience . . . [Full Text of this Article]