For example, if you visit a friend in a large city who lives in a second-floor apartment just beside an elevated railroad, it would be very annoying every time a train screeched by, shaking the building and rattling the windows to the point that conversation became difficult.
Exposure therapy is the opposite of the typical, self-prescribed avoidance approach.
Because while avoidance may provide temporary relief, it just doesn't last. Facing these triggers is the key to reducing the frequency and severity of PTSD symptoms. In vivo exposure is more effective than imaginal exposure. While anxiety or other discomfort may get worse in the first few minutes of in vivo exposure , it is important to continue exposure until the discomfort has diminished. It also increases the likelihood that the anxiety might spread, first to similar triggers and eventually to triggers that have little or nothing to do with the original anxiety.