Implosive therapy in the treatment of combat related fears in a world war II veteran.

A 55-year old veteran with combat related fears of 36 years' duration was successfully treated in three sessions of implosive therapy, each lasting approximately 1 hr. This improvement followed 15 hospitalizations over the preceding 30 month period, and previous unsuccessful treatment efforts including prescription of antabuse, an inpatient alcohol treatment program, and an agoraphobia treatment program conducted on an outpatient basis. Treatment gains were maintained over a 2 year follow-up period.