That only works for mild cases .. and then only if you are drugged (or in an otherwise very safe environment) and over a long period of time until your mind realizes the idiocy of the fear. Hypnosis however can remove the severe panic in 2-3 sessions, but only if you are susceptible. The people on TV were probably under a mild NLP hypnosis (something they are not necessarily aware of), allowing them to avoiding running out of the studio in panic.
It's classic conditioning, but first the mind needs to be panic free in order for the new reality to set in, otherwise you simply revert, which can still happen. Imagine an uncontrollable fear, that completely dominates your mind and fires every escape mechanism in your body, until you are away from the source of the fear and then imagine sitting next to this object and playing with it.