I posted about this in the general discussion section but also wish to ask here...
One of my friends is a serious alcoholic, and admits that he is. He is also heavily into violent/war-based computer games, and doesn't have many other ways to spend his time since he doesn't work or have many other interests.
This person has recently started getting obsessed with thunderstorms and lightning, and he now says he has to get drunk if lightning breaks out. This may partly be an excuse since he reckons he has to get drunk for several days, even though he normally wouldn't be drunk for this long, and storms in our area never last this long. He also says he will not drive anywhere if there is the chance of a thunderstorm or any menacing-looking clouds around, and he is obsessed with looking up weather radars and critcising our weather bureau if they get a thunderstorm prediction wrong (either if storms happen when they were not predicted, or if they don't happen in town when they were predicted).
I have been looking up psychiatric treatments for phobias but nearly all of them would involve deliberate exposure to the feared object, so this guy would probably have to deliberately go outside and watch lightning, which I know he would not do. This makes me wonder if baclofen can reduce phobic fears/anxiety, since it is known to reduce anxiety in general.
I am already hoping to persuade my mate to try baclofen for his alcoholism, and I am wondering if anyone reading this has actually experienced a reduction in fears/phobias as part of their use of baclofen. Treating two problems at once with one drug would be an even bigger incentive to get this person to try baclofen.
One of my friends is a serious alcoholic, and admits that he is. He is also heavily into violent/war-based computer games, and doesn't have many other ways to spend his time since he doesn't work or have many other interests.
This person has recently started getting obsessed with thunderstorms and lightning, and he now says he has to get drunk if lightning breaks out. This may partly be an excuse since he reckons he has to get drunk for several days, even though he normally wouldn't be drunk for this long, and storms in our area never last this long. He also says he will not drive anywhere if there is the chance of a thunderstorm or any menacing-looking clouds around, and he is obsessed with looking up weather radars and critcising our weather bureau if they get a thunderstorm prediction wrong (either if storms happen when they were not predicted, or if they don't happen in town when they were predicted).
I have been looking up psychiatric treatments for phobias but nearly all of them would involve deliberate exposure to the feared object, so this guy would probably have to deliberately go outside and watch lightning, which I know he would not do. This makes me wonder if baclofen can reduce phobic fears/anxiety, since it is known to reduce anxiety in general.
I am already hoping to persuade my mate to try baclofen for his alcoholism, and I am wondering if anyone reading this has actually experienced a reduction in fears/phobias as part of their use of baclofen. Treating two problems at once with one drug would be an even bigger incentive to get this person to try baclofen.
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