Do you have a severe fear of cats and anything cute in this world? There could be help for you yet old chap. Scientists have found a way to erase your fears using what they call Scent Therapy; we kid you not. We’re not quite sure how effective this method is, but if scientists say it works, then you better give it some thought Mr Scaredy Pants.

This idea came from researchers at the Northwestern University who figured out that smelling things could turn off yours fears. According to the Washington Post, researchers claim this procedure can be done while you’re sleeping. Basically, your fears would be converted into things are harmless by the small of certain odors.

Surely, this sounds like something out of a science fiction movie; I mean, getting rid of fears via odors? Blasphemy!

To get this idea up and running, researchers first create a fear of a face in a patient’s mind, and then proceed to link that fear with an odor via an electric shock. After several trials, patients became afraid of that particular face, the odor acted as a cue to activate the fear.

Furthermore, researchers then use a particular smell to trigger fear in patient’s memory, which allows them to adjust without going through the anxiety of being awake while being hit with fearful faces. At the end of the day, this process helped patients to get over whatever they were afraid of, which is awesome despite all the painful electric shocks in the starting phase.

So, is this method a good idea? We can’t say for sure, but if it really works as intended, then what the hell bro.

[via Washingtonpost, image via Dark Government]