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Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Applied to Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
| Content Provider | Scilit |
|---|---|
| Author | Whitfield, Graeme Davidson, Alan |
| Copyright Year | 2018 |
| Description | Book Name: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Explained |
| Abstract | A key finding has been that intrusive, obsessive-type thoughts are much more common than previously thought. Salkovskis and Kirk (1997) found that nine in ten of the general population report having experienced them at some time. One way in which OCD sufferers appear to differ from other people who experience intrusive thoughts is that the same type of thoughts distress them more (cause more anxiety). That is, it is not the thoughts themselves that dictate the response, but the individual's evaluation of them (van Oppen and Arntz, 1994; Salkovskis and Kirk, 1997). Because of this, OCD has been viewed by some as a 'phobia of intrusive thoughts' (Leahy and Holland, 2000). Some interpret these thoughts as evidence that the thoughts could cause the individual to 'act in an out of control way'. One of the author's patients had the intrusive thought that she would take her clothes off and run down the church aisle 'amok'. She interpreted the presence of these repeated thoughts as evidence that it could actually happen. This is an example of what has been termed 'thought-action fusion' (TAF) (Rachman and Shafran, 1999), where the person believes that having the thought means that the event has happened or will be more likely to happen in the future. Therefore, having the thought leads to anxiety, which the client attempts to 'neutralise' or get rid of, by carrying out the act of the compulsion. In fact, there are two forms of TAF. The example given above concerns probability - thinking a thought increases the chance of a related event actually occurring in real life. The second form of TAF relates to the occasions when people have morally unacceptable or shameful intrusive obsessive thoughts. They view having these thoughts as morally equivalent to actually caring out the shameful acts. For example, some patients may have obsessive thoughts about wanting to harm a relative (despite liking the relative). They may carry out a compulsion to neutralise that 'awful thought'. It is obviously important to carry out a very detailed assessment in such cases that the patient does not truly wish harm on the person and does not in fact gain some satisfaction or gain from having these thoughts. These two forms of TAF have been described as 'perceived probability TAF' and 'moral TAF' (Rachman and Shafran, 1999). |
| Related Links | https://content.taylorfrancis.com/books/download?dac=C2016-0-24678-8&isbn=9781315377773&doi=10.1201/9781315377773-21&format=pdf |
| Ending Page | 152 |
| Page Count | 7 |
| Starting Page | 146 |
| DOI | 10.1201/9781315377773-21 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited |
| Publisher Date | 2018-10-08 |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | Book Name: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Explained Psychoanalysis Psychology Intrusive Thoughts Thoughts As Evidence |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Chapter |
