desensitization
Loss of sensitivity
Desensitization is the process of making someone or something less sensitive.
In psychology, it's a therapeutic technique that gradually exposes a person to feared stimuli until the fear diminishes: systematic desensitization helped her overcome her phobia of dogs.
More broadly, repeated exposure to violence, tragedy, or shock can cause emotional desensitization—people stop reacting as strongly: The constant news coverage led to desensitization among viewers.
The term also applies physically, as when skin becomes less responsive to allergens or irritants.
Diminished reaction over time
- toleranceWillingness to accept difference
- numbnessLoss of sensation
- apathyAbsence of feeling
- indifferenceLack of interest
callousness · detachment · inurement · hardening · coldness · unresponsiveness · disengagement · burnout
Fitting to new conditions
- toleranceWillingness to accept difference
- acclimatizationAdjusting to new conditions
- receptorSignal-receiving molecule
- nerveSignal-carrying body fiber
stimulus · threshold · response · numbness · anesthesia · dulling · neural · biological
Diminished reaction over time
- extinctionComplete vanishing of a species
- reinforcementAdding support or encouragement
- stimulusWhat prompts a reaction
- responseAnswer to stimulus
behavioral · repetition · exposure · classical · operant · Pavlovian · learning · association
Persistent irrational dread
- anxietyPersistent apprehensive distress
- systematicFollowing ordered procedures
- gradualDeveloping slowly over time
- counterconditioningReplacing conditioned response therapeutically
PTSD · trauma · relaxation · flooding · hierarchy · cognitive-behavioral · psychotherapy · treatment
Disease treatment via body's defenses
- allergenImmune response trigger
- injectionSyringe-delivered dose
- sublingualUnder the tongue
- antihistamineDrug blocking allergic response
tolerance · shots · drops · pollen · anaphylaxis · maintenance · buildup
habituation
Diminished reaction over time
indifference · callousness · detachment · inurement · hardening · coldness · unresponsiveness · disengagement · burnout · overexposure
adaptation
Fitting to new conditions
- toleranceWillingness to accept difference
- acclimatizationAdjusting to new conditions
- receptorSignal-receiving molecule
nerve · stimulus · threshold · response · numbness · anesthesia · dulling · neural · biological · cellular
habituation
Diminished reaction over time
- extinctionComplete vanishing of a species
- reinforcementAdding support or encouragement
- stimulusWhat prompts a reaction
response · behavioral · repetition · exposure · classical · operant · Pavlovian · learning · association · generalization
phobia
Persistent irrational dread
- anxietyPersistent apprehensive distress
- systematicFollowing ordered procedures
- gradualDeveloping slowly over time
counterconditioning · PTSD · trauma · relaxation · flooding · hierarchy · cognitive-behavioral · psychotherapy · treatment · imaginal
immunotherapy
Disease treatment via body's defenses
- allergenImmune response trigger
- injectionSyringe-delivered dose
- sublingualUnder the tongue
antihistamine · tolerance · shots · drops · pollen · anaphylaxis · maintenance · buildup
- cell signalingreceptor, ligand, receptors, signaling, kinase
- allergiesallergy, allergies, allergen, allergens, allergist
- Anxietyanxiety, nervousness, panic, worry, generalized anxiety
- rehabilitationrehab, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, inpatient rehab
- therapiesart therapy, physical therapy, physiotherapy, speech therapy, music therapy
- sensitivityhypersensitivity, oversensitivity, hypersensitive, sensitization, oversensitive
desensitizationsensitization
Increased responsiveness to stimuli
hypersensitivity · heightened sensitivity · hyperreactivity · hypersensitization · sensitizing
desensitizationhyperawareness
Excessive attentional focus
alertness · vigilance · attunement · mindfulness · acuity
sense, sensitive, consent, sensation, sensible, sensitivity, sentiment, resent, insensitive