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Results for “Desensitization, Psychologic”

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PubMed1998

Problems and prospects for the social support-reactivity hypothesis.

Social support and integration have been linked to health and longevity in many correlational studies. To explain how social relationships might enhance health, investigators are examining the effects of social support on physiological processes implicated in disease. Much of this research focuses on testing the social support-reactivity hypothesis, which maintains that social support enhances health by reducing psychobiologic reactivity to stressors. This article identifies the basic assumptions, problems, and prospects of this research endeavor. The major problems discussed include: (a) inconsistent findings across studies; (b) unidentified cognitive and emotional mediators; (c) individual differences in response to social support; and (d) a lack of experimental studies on the role of social support in adjustment to chronic stress. Besides raising consciousness about these problems, I offer ideas for advancing research in this area.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1986

Relaxation based treatment of stress induced syncope.

Treatment of stress induced syncope is described, using a relaxation based behavioral approach with a male client with a long history of syncope. The client learned to interrupt the presyncopal phase and thus to prevent syncope in stressful situations. The rationale for use of this new application of relaxation training is discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

The role of presence in virtual reality exposure therapy.

A growing body of literature suggests that virtual reality is a successful tool for exposure therapy in the treatment of anxiety disorders. Virtual reality (VR) researchers posit the construct of presence, defined as the interpretation of an artificial stimulus as if it were real, to be a presumed factor that enables anxiety to be felt during virtual reality exposure therapy (VRE). However, a handful of empirical studies on the relation between presence and anxiety in VRE have yielded mixed findings. The current study tested the following hypotheses about the relation between presence and anxiety in VRE with a clinical sample of fearful flyers: (1) presence is related to in-session anxiety; (2) presence mediates the extent that pre-existing (pre-treatment) anxiety is experienced during exposure with VR; (3) presence is positively related to the amount of phobic elements included within the virtual environment; (4) presence is related to treatment outcome. Results supported presence as a factor that contributes to the experience of anxiety in the virtual environment as well as a relation between presence and the phobic elements, but did not support a relation between presence and treatment outcome. The study suggests that presence may be a necessary but insufficient requirement for successful VRE.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1986

Applications of experimental psychopathology in psychiatric rehabilitation.

Persons with schizophrenia show deficits in basic psychological functions such as attention, perception, and cognition. Remediation of these deficits by direct training may facilitate the effectiveness of neuroleptic medications, social skills training, and family therapy. In the vulnerability-stress model of schizophrenia, persons with schizophrenia may have lower thresholds for disorganization that contribute to vulnerability. Stress increases arousal, which brings many competing responses to the same strength, leading to intrusion of inappropriate responses. Interventions that reduce arousal and lower the strengths of competing responses should reduce psychological deficits. Arousal-reducing, attentional, and cognitive interventions are appropriate for the prodromal, acute, and chronic stages of schizophrenic disorders. Laboratory-based assessment and ongoing measurement of basic psychological deficits in schizophrenia are keys to the development and validation of multimodal psychiatric rehabilitation.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Mechanisms of mindfulness.

Recently, the psychological construct mindfulness has received a great deal of attention. The majority of research has focused on clinical studies to evaluate the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions. This line of research has led to promising data suggesting mindfulness-based interventions are effective for treatment of both psychological and physical symptoms. However, an equally important direction for future research is to investigate questions concerning mechanisms of action underlying mindfulness-based interventions. This theoretical paper proposes a model of mindfulness, in an effort to elucidate potential mechanisms to explain how mindfulness affects positive change. Potential implications and future directions for the empirical study of mechanisms involved in mindfulness are addressed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2006

[The feeling of incompleteness. Rediscovery of an old psychopathological symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder].

This paper describes clinically relevant aspects of incompleteness experiences in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) (feelings of incompleteness concerning the self, "not just right" experiences and inability to achieve "closure" concerning actions/perceptions, compensatory urge to achieve "just right" feelings) and reviews empirical results and important research areas (frequency, association with symptom-based subtypes, motivational heterogeneity within subtypes, harm avoidance and incompleteness as basic OCD elements, sensation-based perfectionism, and relation to tic-related OCD and dissociative processes, especially depersonalisation/derealisation). Neurobiological explanations, biographical reconstruction, and treatment approaches are briefly summarised. It is emphasised that cognitive-behavioural methods tailored to OCD as an anxiety disorder must be modified considerably for the treatment of incompleteness-motivated OCD.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1984

Cognitive treatment of phobia.

Despite the seeming phenomenological importance of maladaptive cognitions in phobic disorders, review of the literature does not support the utilization of cognitive treatments with this client population. Although preliminary analog investigations yielded promising findings, studies employing clinical phobics as subjects suggest that cognitive techniques are relatively ineffective when administered alone, when compared to standard behavioral treatment. In addition, cognitive treatments appear to be of no additional therapeutic value when combined with behavioral techniques. Several possible reasons for this poor showing of cognitive treatments have been reviewed. While it is plausible that cognitive modification was not actually achieved in treatment outcome studies, failure to measure cognitive change precludes evaluation of this hypothesis. However, because preliminary evidence suggests the unreliability of cognitive assessment procedures, substantially more research will need to address the development of psychometrically sound cognitive measurement techniques before cognitive change can be evaluated in future investigations. Given the failure of cognitive treatments with phobics, what directions remain for future research in this area? While many would argue against conducting any further research, it appears that several important issues remain to be explored, the results of which may have a profound impact on our current understanding and delivery of behavior therapy to phobic clients. As mentioned above, the development and utilization of reliable and valid cognitive measures are critical to evaluation of the efficacy of cognitive treatments. As such, the utility and psychometric properties of more structured cognitive measures (e.g., self-efficacy ratings, attitudinal scales), as well as specific cognitive measures delineated in this article, need to be investigated. The use of these measures in future investigations will aid in determining whether, and which, cognitive therapies actually engender constructive cognitive change. Such studies must be conducted before cognitive techniques can be dismissed as ineffective. Similarly, cognitive measurement also should be used to assess cognitive changes during behavioral, exposure-based treatment of phobias. Although exposure treatments clearly are considered to be the treatment of choice for phobic disorders (Marks, 1978; Mavissakalian & Barlow, 1981), the process or mechanism of action by which exposure works remains unclear. Systematic testing of alternative hypotheses, including cognitive change, may shed light on this complicated issue and aid in increasing the efficacy of our present treatment

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2001

Repeated exposure of flight phobics to flights in virtual reality.

The present study examined the effects of repeated exposure of flight phobics to flights in virtual reality (VR). Flight phobics were randomly assigned either to complete one VR test flight followed by four VR exposure flights (VR group; N=15) in one lengthy session or to complete one VR test flight followed by a lengthy relaxation training session (relaxation group; N=15). All participants completed a second VR test flight at the end of the session. Fear reports and physiological fear reactions (heart rate, skin conductance level) during VR exposures were registered, and fear of flying was assessed psychometrically from 3 weeks before to 3 months after exposure. Exposure to VR flights elicited subjective and physiological fear responses in flight phobics, and these responses attenuated within and across VR flights. Fear reduction associated with repeated VR exposure was greater than fear reduction caused by relaxation training. Fear of flying improved in both treatment groups, but several outcome measures indicated greater effects in the VR treated group than in the relaxation group. These findings indicate that exposure in virtual reality may offer a new and promising approach for the treatment of fear of flying.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2000

The facilitative effects of heart-rate feedback in the emotional processing of claustrophobic fear.

This study examines predictions derived from Foa and Kozak's theory of emotional processing. We hypothesized that the provision of heart-rate feedback would facilitate emotional processing through a fuller activation of the participant's fear structure, and by focusing participants' attention on information that is incompatible with the fear structure, i.e., the interoceptive pattern of habituation. Nonclinical students (N = 54) showing marked claustrophobic fear received 30 min of self-directed exposure to a claustrophobic chamber. Three exposure conditions (heart-rate feedback, paced-tone control, and exposure only control) were examined across six 5-min exposure trials. Participants receiving heart-rate feedback displayed greater between-trial habituation across treatment trials and lower levels of fear at post-treatment. Treatment process findings failed to support the fear activation hypothesis. Implications of the findings for theories of fear reduction are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

[Confrontation instead of avoidance. Why anxiety patients should face the causes].

Psychiatric management forms the basis of any integrated psychiatric treatment. It serves to maximize the patient's level of performance, safety and quality of life. It also involves the patient's family members--who are usually indirectly affected by the disorder and may provide support during the course of treatment--in the therapeutic strategy. The psychiatric management of anxiety disorders can be effectively carried out, also by the family doctor familiar with mental disorders, since the GP is usually the first primary care instance to be approached by the patient, who assumes an underlying organic cause rather than a mental problem. Within the framework of psychiatric management, the family doctor should be kept fully informed of the individual steps in the treatment strategy, and coordinate the necessary interventions by other care providers. By taking psychoeducative measures he can already initiate effective treatment, and may create a positive atmosphere in which treatment-requiring anxiety can be openly discussed and perhaps partly resolved. Talking to the patient about early symptoms may help to avoid severe relapses. Psychiatric management as part of the general practitioner's activities helps achieve the goal of integrating the treatment of patients with anxiety disorders in the doctor's office.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1997

Fear of flying--a Singapore perspective.

Fear of flying is a term commonly used in the Aviation Medicine community. However, heterogeneous conditions which can present with fear of flying, demand that a more stringent and systematic approach be made in one's management of the aviator with fear of flying (FOF). Cases of FOF between 1974 and 1995 presented to the Civil Aviation Medical Board and the Aeromedical Centre of the Republic of Singapore Air Force were studied for their psychopathology, psychodynamics, diagnoses, motivation for treatment, type of treatment and response to treatment, and their eventual outcome in relation of flying. 53.3% of 15 cases had Adult Situational Reaction, 26.7% had phobia of flying, 6.6% had Adjustment Disorder, 6.7% had Anxiety Depressive Disorder and 6.7% had Transient Psychosis. All cases of Adjustment Disorder were returned to flying, compared with 25% of Adult Situational Reaction, 66.7% of Phobia of Flying and none of the aircrew suffering from Transient Psychosis. Fear of flying is thus a complex phenomenon, where there is interaction of elements of mental health, neurotic roots, real and imaginary threats and life events affecting eventually the flyer's willingness to fly.

Adaptation, Psychological↗