Halitophobia, or fear of bad breath, is a widespread but poorly
understood condition. The diagnosis rests on the disconnection between
the person's sense of foul mouth odor and the perceived experience by
others that there is no unusual odor. Most treatment protocols advance
one of two distinct approaches:
1. Behavioral modification or cognitive behavioral therapy(CBT). Each encourages thought changes to encounter the unreality of the symptom. Frequently combined with a non-therapist partner who reassuringly responds to exhaled breath by commenting on the odor.
2. Psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy connects the current experience ( enhanced belief in the person's bad smell) with fears of rejection from the past. Through an emotionally corrective experience with the therapist, patients gain confidence that their anxiety about smelling bad can be reduced to a treatable symptom rather than a global anxiety.
1. Behavioral modification or cognitive behavioral therapy(CBT). Each encourages thought changes to encounter the unreality of the symptom. Frequently combined with a non-therapist partner who reassuringly responds to exhaled breath by commenting on the odor.
2. Psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy connects the current experience ( enhanced belief in the person's bad smell) with fears of rejection from the past. Through an emotionally corrective experience with the therapist, patients gain confidence that their anxiety about smelling bad can be reduced to a treatable symptom rather than a global anxiety.
