China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Treating Chronic Pain in Personality-Disordered Patients
Published in Andrea Kohn Maikovich-Fong, Handbook of Psychosocial Interventions for Chronic Pain, 2019
Experiential avoidance, which stands in opposition to mindfulness, ultimately propagates suffering. Chronic distress and pain teach individuals that these states are harmful, even dangerous, and must be avoided. Cognitive and behavioral strategies then are employed to avoid contact with these aversive internal and external states (Livesley et al., 2015). From an acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) perspective, however, these states and resulting intense emotions are not the main source of suffering; rather, the mechanisms of avoidance that obstruct valued living become the treatment targets (Blackledge & Hayes, 2001). Indeed, thought suppression and other avoidance behaviors actually can increase contact with whatever the person is trying to avoid (e.g., attempting to suppress pain sensations results in less pain tolerance; attempting to suppress emotions results in increased frequency and intensity of emotions) (Blackledge & Hayes, 2001; McCracken, Carson, Eccleston, & Keefe, 2004). Furthermore, other harmful behavioral avoidance attempts (e.g., substance abuse, interpersonal attacks, violence, social isolation and withdrawal) also are significant concerns (Blackledge & Hayes, 2001).
Step-by-Step Treatment
Published in Melisa Robichaud, Naomi Koerner, Michel J. Dugas, Cognitive Behavioral Treatment for Generalized Anxiety Disorder, 2019
Melisa Robichaud, Naomi Koerner, Michel J. Dugas
Prior to introducing written exposure, it is important to illustrate to clients how attempts at avoiding or blocking distressing thoughts and worries can be counterproductive. Research on thought suppression has shown that trying to suppress a thought is not only ineffective, it can result in a paradoxical increase in that thought. As most clients are unaware of this phenomenon, an effective way to illustrate the effects of thought suppression is to ask them to engage in the white bear experiment.
A Response to Pirutinsky’s (2019) Religion and Compulsive Sexuality
Published in The Journal of Sex Research, 2019
In Efrati’s (2019) “God, I Can’t Stop Thinking About Sex!” I suggested that religious adolescents tend to suppress sexual-related thoughts more often than their secular counterparts and that this suppression of thoughts is linked with higher compulsive sexual behavior and with lower well-being. Thought suppression is one of the strategies used to control unwanted negative thoughts. Ironically, it increases rather than decreases the suppressed thoughts and so is often linked with lower mental health (Magee, Harden, & Teachmen, 2012). In a letter to the editor, Pirutinsky (2019) argued that the conclusion that religious individuals have higher levels of compulsive sexual behavior is false. Rather, he suggested that “it is highly likely that these religious youth may experience normative levels of sexual behavior and fantasy as distressing, given that it stands in direct contradiction to their religious values.” The key argument was that several items in the I-CSB measure (Efrati & Mikulincer, 2018; items 4, 7, 10, 17, and 21) relate more to the affective experience of sexuality rather than sexual behavior per se.
God, I Can’t Stop Thinking About Sex! The Rebound Effect in Unsuccessful Suppression of Sexual Thoughts Among Religious Adolescents
Published in The Journal of Sex Research, 2019
Thought suppression is one of the strategies used to control unwanted negative thoughts. Ironically, however, simple suppression often leads to an increase in such thoughts, a phenomenon known as the rebound effect. Based on previous research, both evidence and theoretical perspectives pointed to the importance and uniqueness of thought suppression in shaping individuals’ mental health (Magee et al., 2012). To date, no research has been conducted on the association between the suppression of sexual thoughts and developmental disposition to CSB among adolescents. Furthermore, there are populations who are inclined to suffer more from suppressing such thoughts, such as conservative religious people who watch pornography and by doing so find themselves in conflict with their religious worldview (Bradley et al., 2016; Giordano & Cecil, 2015; Karaga et al., 2016; MacInnis & Hodson, 2015, 2016).
Need for Affect, Interpersonal Psychological Theory of Suicide, and Suicide Proneness
Published in Archives of Suicide Research, 2019
Claire N. Bryson, Robert J. Cramer, Adam T. Schmidt
Beck, Rush, Shaw, and Emery’s (1979) cognitive theory of depression provides a useful framework in which to establish a parallel integration of the NFA-IPTS-suicide perspective. Beck conceptualized depression (along with similar experiences such as anxiety and suicide) as a result of errors in cognitive information processing (e.g., catastrophizing, distorted self-concept). Such distortions of information processing contributed to negative views of one’s self, social relationships, and environment. Similarly, our findings support an affective-information processing distortion in which one may actively evade emotional experience (either positive or negative), potentially biasing self-concept (e.g., “I hate myself”) and relations with others (e.g., “I am a burden to others”). Such patterns of increased NFA avoidance may yield associated negative mental health, in this case suicide proneness. Maio and Esses (2001) stated that neither NFA avoidance nor approach is the better or more adaptive attitude, however, the present findings, along with emotion science and coping literature, may suggest otherwise. For example, thought suppression has been found to be related to negative mood regulation expectancies (belief that one cannot regulate their mood in an adaptive way), and suicidal ideation (Cukrowicz, Ekblad, Cheavens, Rosenthal, & Lynch, 2008). Self-reported attempts to inhibit emotional experience and expression have been found to mediate the link between negative affectivity and suicide (Lynch, Cheavens, Morse, & Rosenthal, 2004). Overall, research supports that holding an orientation of avoiding a problem, which often includes emotions, can be detrimental, with an emerging body of research supporting the benefits of engaging emotions as an integral part of coping.