Lab Rat

Episode
Scaredy Rats
Broadcast Info
2004 (28 mins)
Description
This time the Lab Rats must face their great fears, and try to cure them in just one week. PhD scientist Mike Leahy and stand-up comedian Zeron Gibson, experience the science and psychology of fear using their own bodies as laboratories. Their vital signs are monitored to measure their terror as they undergo ‘Flooding Therapy’. The Flooding Therapy requires extreme exposure to their fears, in an attempt to overcome them. Mike Leahy is a tough guy but he’s a real scardey cat when it comes to heights. So Mike confronts Tower Terror as he climbs 100 ft up the ladder of a construction crane. Can he complete the long perilous walk out to the end of the jib?

Mike is scared of heights but his fellow Lab Rat, Zeron Gibson, is petrified of snakes. His fear has grown to a phobia. Zeron sobs as a tiny earth worm is placed on his skin, and this is just the prelude to confronting an enormous Boa Constrictor. Peter Naish a psychologist from the Open University guides Zeron through the physical and mental basis of his fear. Mark O’Shea, reptile expert and TV presenter (Mark O’Shea’s Big Adventure Channel 4) introduces Zeron to snakes from his personal collection captured from around the world. In a truly remarkable transformation snake phobic Zeron trembling from a surge of adrenaline can finally touch a snake as his fellow Lab Rat Mike wipes away his tears. But his ultimate challenge awaits, he must sleep with two huge pythons in pitch darkness. Will the Flooding Therapy work when Zeron is left alone to confront his demons?
fear science & psychology of fear Flooding Therapy vertigo construction crane snakes worms Boa Constrictor Pythons
Genre
Science; Research

How to cite this record

The Open University, "Lab Rat". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ou/search/index.php/prog/6821 (Accessed 11 Jan 2025)