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Behavioural Treatment of AIDS-Focused Illness Phobia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Stephen Logsdail ,
Karina Lovell ,
Hilary Warwick  and
Isaac Marks
Stephen Logsdail*
Affiliation:
Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AZ, currently Consultant Psychiatrist, St John's Hospital, Stone, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
Karina Lovell
Affiliation:
Psychological Treatment Unit, Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AZ
Hilary Warwick
Affiliation:
Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AZ, currently MRC Research Fellow, University Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford
Isaac Marks
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, London
*
∗Correspondence
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Abstract

Seven cases are described in which the central symptoms were fear of contracting AIDS, avoidance of related cues, rituals and reassurance-seeking, Associated features include previous illness phobias and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Treatment with exposure and response prevention (plus a cognitive session in one case), led to improvement sustained up to three months after discharge, although one patient stopped treatment prematurely. Controlled trials of behavioural treatment in hypochondriasis are required.

Type
Brief Reports
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 159 , Issue 3 , September 1991 , pp. 422 - 425
Copyright
Copyright © 1991 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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