Scientists from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, have found that a simple nasal spray may help people deal with irrational fears.
The team say millions of people afflicted by chronic phobias such as agoraphobia (fear of open spaces), claustrophobia (fear of enclosed spaces), fear of flying, heights, spiders and even chronic shyness, could benefit from the use of the spray.
Chronic fearfulness affects hundreds of thousands of people and the discovery could very well be a breakthrough in treating such disorders.
Dr. Adam Guastella, a psychology researcher says these conditions can be crippling.
Dr. Guastella says their research shows that the treatments for phobias can be greatly enhanced using compounds that make the brain more receptive.
Their research focused on two chemicals - oxytocin, a naturally occurring hormone long known to play a role in human emotions, and D-cycloserine (DCS), an antibiotic used against tuberculosis that has been found to have subtle effects on the brain.
Both of these can be delivered by nasal spray.
Current treatments include exposure therapy where phobics are confronted with the things that terrify them, but its benefits often disappear over time.
For the research, Guastella used DCS combined with exposure therapy to treat 23 patients suffering from chronic shyness.
The patients were asked to make a speech, normally a terrifying task for people with such a condition.
A second group of 23, who were also asked to make speeches, were given a placebo.
According to Guastella the participants were so shy they could not enter a crowded room or speak in public.
He then compared the results with patients who also made a speech but without having had any treatment for their phobias.