Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Case 2
Most accidents in the lifetime of a car driver happen during the first five
years after getting a driver
s license, usually due to a lack of control
over the car or the inability to
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a traffic situation. Most accidents
in the following period of five to ten years are caused while doing dan-
gerous maneuvers, like takeovers. Although these activities usually
create high-risk sensitivity during the first years, some drivers feel more
and more comfortable with handling takeover maneuvers. They have
done it so often, and although they agree that it looks dangerous, they
are actually convinced that they can manage the situation. This mis-
placed sense of control reduces the impact of the anxiety system on
other brain functions. Habituation has reduced the risk sensitivity.
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We can challenge habituation by changing stimuli, for example,
changing work, changing colleagues, or changing the environment. Even
if a few stimuli are changed, the environment will be seen as new again.
3.2.2 Desensitization
At points in life, some people are too sensitive to danger connected to
certain stimuli, and they develop a counterproductive reaction that we
call a phobic response. Such responses can be so strong that they can
block normal occupational behavior. The person in question can have
a strong urge to avoid a specific stimulus and can become so anxious
that he cannot handle it in a proper way anymore. We can encounter
hypersensitivity after serious accidents with a traumatic outcome. In
those cases, it can be necessary to reduce the anxiety-evoking strength
of a stimulus through coaching or even therapy. This process is called
desensitization. Forced habituation by exposing a person to hypersen-
sitive stimuli is the most effective way to reduce sensitivity.
Hypersensitivity can be reduced by forced exposure to a stimulus.
Case 1
The mechanics may become hypersensitive to this kind of work due to
the shock he experienced afterward. The operator could also start to
feel extremely guilty because he didn
t take all possible precautions
(for example, he left the papers in the car and didn
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t take the two-
minute walk back to the car to retrieve them). In such a case, a few
sessions of coaching might be needed.
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