Rebound Effects Following Deliberate Thought Suppression: Does PTSD Make a Difference?

Beck, J. Gayle; Guðmundsdóttir, Berglind; Palyo, Sarah A.; Miller, Luana M.; Grant, DeMond M.

doi:10.1016/j.beth.2005.11.002

Cited by 56 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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Section: Anxiety Disordersmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…In this task, the PTSD group did not experience a rebound effect, suggesting that this effect was specific to the suppression of their trauma-related thoughts. However, in a further follow up study (Beck, 2006), both PTSD and no-PTSD groups showed a post-suppression rebound of trauma-related thoughts, suggesting that difficulties in suppressing trauma-related thoughts may be ubiquitous after exposure to trauma, and not specific to PTSD.Finally, correlational studies have shown an association between the tendency for chronic suppression and the severity of PTSD symptoms (e.g., Vazquez et al, in press). Taken together, results to date suggest that the mental effort expended in the suppression of trauma-related thoughts serves only to exacerbate trauma-related intrusions and consequent distress.…”

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confidence: 96%

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Hidden Complications of Thought Suppression

Najmi¹,

Wegner²

2009

International Journal of Cognitive Therapy

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Although the suppression of thoughts may seem to be an effective solution, this strategy can lead to an exacerbation of the very thought that one is attempting to suppress. This ironic effect is the most obvious unwanted outcome of suppression and has now been investigated empirically for more than two decades. However, the fact that suppression is an effortful process implies that, even when suppression does not lead to an ironic rebound of the unwanted thought, it puts an insidious cognitive load on the individual attempting to suppress. Moreover, whether or not suppression leads to an exacerbation of the unwanted thought, it is rarely successful, and hence adds to the individual's distress. In this article we describe the phenomenon of suppression and consider how it might complicate a range of emotional disorders. Taken together, studies on thought suppression in psychopathology present a more nuanced picture now than was emerging in the early years of its investigation. Some evidence is consistent with the idea that the counterproductive effects of suppression are causally implicated in the disorder, but for the most part a more parsimonious conclusion is that thought suppression acts as a complication of the disorder. In certain disorders, suppression complicates the disorder by leading to an ironic rebound of the unwanted thoughts. In all disorders, the cost of undertaking suppression is a persistent cognitive load, which, in turn undermines the ability to suppress, and hence sets off a cycle of failed expectations and distress. Hidden Complications 1Much to his annoyance, a thought popped into his mind. It was very clear and very distinct, and he had now come to recognize these thoughts for what they were. His instinct was to resist them. They were the preordained promptings from the dark and locked off parts of his mind. He sat still and ignored the thought furiously. It nagged at him. He ignored it. It nagged at him. He ignored it. It nagged at him. He gave in to it. Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (1980, p. 172) Sometimes science fiction can remind us of science fact. In the case of this fantasy novel by Douglas Adams, the fact of which we are reminded is the insistent and inevitable return of an unwanted thought. Thoughts we put out of mind seem to come back with a vengeance that makes us wonder whether we may have gone mad. Now as it happens, the hypothesis that recurrent unwanted intrusive thoughts might be associated with psychopathology has occurred to many psychologists over the years (Clark, 2005;Rachman & De Silva, 1978). This paper reviews research on how the suppression of such unwanted thoughts is related to psychological disorder.The experience of mental disorder is often associated with painful thoughts and feelings and thus will commonly motivate suppression as a reaction (Najmi & Wegner, in press;Wegner, 1989). Most early research on intrusive and obsessive thoughts operated under the assumption that suppression is always reactive in this way, and so ...

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Section: Anxiety Disordersmentioning

confidence: 81%

mentioning

confidence: 96%

Hidden Complications of Thought Suppression

Najmi¹,

Wegner²

2009

International Journal of Cognitive Therapy

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“…[3] Evidence for rebound effects has been mixed, with multiple studies failing to find an effect (e.g., [4,5] ). Others report rebound effects, particularly in dysphoric or clinical samples (e.g., [6][7][8][9][10] ). Evidence that thought suppression promotes symptoms of emotional distress is also mixed: a majority of studies supports an association [1,[3][4][5]7,11] , but others fail to find a relation (e.g., [12] ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Others report rebound effects, particularly in dysphoric or clinical samples (e.g., [6][7][8][9][10] ). Evidence that thought suppression promotes symptoms of emotional distress is also mixed: a majority of studies supports an association [1,[3][4][5]7,11] , but others fail to find a relation (e.g., [12] ). It has been hypothesized that thought suppression is driven by thought-action fusion, the belief that having a thought about an action or event is morally akin to carrying out that action or increases the likelihood of the event occurring.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Thought suppression and suicidal ideation: preliminary evidence in support of a robust association

et al. 2009

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“…Thus, cumulative findings suggest that even individuals who should be extremely motivated to forget their traumas are largely unable to do so. In addition, experiments instructing participants to discount, disregard, or generally push unwanted thoughts out of awareness often result in a boomerang effect, thereby increasing the prominence and accessibility of these thoughts (e.g., Beck, Gudmundsdottir, Palyo, Miller, & Grant, 2006;Shipherd & Beck, 1999;Wegner, 1994). …”

Section: A Few Problems With Freudian Repression Of Memoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

From Dynamic Lesions to Brain Imaging of Behavioral Lesions: Alloying the Gold of Psychoanalysis with the Copper of Suggestion

Raz

Wolfson

2010

Neuropsychoanalysis

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Contemporary studies in the cognitive neuroscience of attention and suggestion shed new light on psychoanalytic concepts of yore. Findings from neuroimaging studies, for example, seem to revive the notion of dynamic lesions-focal brain changes undetectable by anatomical scrutiny. With technologies such as brain imaging and reversible brain lesion, some findings from modern biological psychiatry seem to converge with nineteenth-century psychiatry, reminiscent of the old masters. In particular, suggestion has been shown to modulate specific neural activity in the human brain. Here we show that "behavioral lesions"-the influence that words exert on focal brain activity-may constitute the twenty-first-century appellation of "dynamic lesions." While recent research results involving suggestion seem to partially support Freudian notions, correlating psychoanalysis with its brain substrates remains difficult. We elucidate the incipient role of cognitive neuroscience, including the relative merits and inherent limitations of imaging the living human brain, in explaining psychoanalytic concepts.

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Rebound Effects Following Deliberate Thought Suppression: Does PTSD Make a Difference?

Cited by 56 publications

References 42 publications

Hidden Complications of Thought Suppression

Hidden Complications of Thought Suppression

Thought suppression and suicidal ideation: preliminary evidence in support of a robust association

From Dynamic Lesions to Brain Imaging of Behavioral Lesions: Alloying the Gold of Psychoanalysis with the Copper of Suggestion

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