Thought Suppression in Primary Psychotic Disorders and Substance/Medication Induced Psychotic Disorder

Abstract

Introduction: First episode-psychosis (FEP) represents a stressful/traumatic event for patients. To our knowledge, no study to date has investigated thought suppression involved in FEP in a Romanian population. Our objective was to investigate thought suppression occurring during FEP within primary psychotic disorders (PPD) and substance/medication induced psychotic disorders (SMIPD). Further, we examined the relationship between thought suppression and negative automatic thoughts within PPD and SMIPD. Methods: The study included 30 participants (17 females) with PPD and 25 participants (10 females) with SMIPD. Psychological scales were administered to assess psychotic symptoms and negative automatic thoughts, along a psychiatric clinical interview and a biochemical drug test. Results: Participants in the PPD group reported higher thought suppression compared to SMIPD group. For the PPD group, results showed a positive correlation between thought suppression and automatic thoughts. For the SMIPD group, results also showed a positive correlation between thought suppression and automatic thoughts. Conclusions: Patients with PPD rely more on thought suppression, as opposed to SMIPD patients. Thought suppression may be viewed as an unhealthy reaction to FEP, which is associated with the experience of negative automatic thoughts and might be especially problematic in patients with PPD. Cognitive behavioral therapy is recommended to decrease thought suppression and improve patients’ functioning.

Standard CBT versus integrative and multimodal CBT assisted by virtual-reality for generalized anxiety disorder

“…Besides these specific symptoms, different cognitive and attentional biases, such as the overestimation of a hypothetic threat or underestimation of one’s capacity to manage stressful situations were described as GAD characteristics ( Hirsch et al, 2019 ). Likewise, attempts to control the occurrence of certain thoughts/thought suppression could represent an important cognitive bias present in GAD ( Aydın et al, 2019 ), as well as other enduring and severe psychopathologies ( Nirestean et al, 2012 , 2016 ; Popa et al, 2020 ). Therefore, individuals use various safety-seeking strategies, which reinforce dysfunctional attitudes and biased perceptions of personal coping abilities, contributing to a raise of uncertainties and self-doubts ( Gústavsson et al, 2021 ).…”

The Relation between Negative Automatic Thoughts and Psychological Inflexibility in Schizophrenia

“…Consequently, he may engage in religious rituals and the transmission of mystical delusional messages on social media, and search for evidence to support his hypotheses. Additionally, he may present psychomotor agitation (overt behaviors), feel anxious, and/or depressed (covert behavior) [30,31]. According to the ACT theory, CF is interconnected with EA, in the sense that CF influences and increases the level of EA [32,33].…”