This scenario will sound familiar to the many other people with phobias. All it takes is a worrying thought or glimpse – whether of a steep drop or a spider’s web – for the mind and body to race into panicked overdrive. These fears are difficult to conquer, largely because the best way of getting over a phobia is to expose yourself to your fear many times over.
But there may be a short cut. Drugs that work to boost learning may help someone with a phobia to “detrain their brain”, losing the fearful associations that fuel their panic. This approach is also showing promise for a host of other problems – from chemical and gambling addictions to obsessive nail-biting. In a bid to find out if it really works, I head to West Virginia to take part in a trial.