Phobic Disorders Four Years after Treatment: A Prospective Follow-up

Abstract

In recent years several workers have followed-up the status of patients with phobic disorders after treatment (Terhune, 1949; Friedman, 1950; Tucker, 1956; Roberts, 1964; Sim and Houghton, 1966; Marks and Gelder, 1965; Marks, Birley and Gelder, 1966). These studies were retrospective in that evaluation was largely based on past records, and systematic interviews did not provide the main source of data. Some patients were included with phobias of duration ranging from three days to 32 years, while follow-up results were usually reported at varying durations after treatment, so that it was not possible to evaluate serial change in a cohort.