Sorta related. An interesting study that experimented with combating the physical fear response though a drug that inhibits the formation of sense memory (I’m sure I’m oversimplifying that, but it’s fascinating to me): https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/24/opinion/sunday/a-drug-to-cure-fear.html
“This is not “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” the movie in which a dysfunctional couple decides to erase their memories of each other and start their lives all over again. To the contrary, you still remember your biography, but your fear would be stripped of its force. The subjects knew perfectly well after the study that they previously feared spiders and that they now — strangely — felt little to no anxiety around them.”
