How to suppress obsessive thoughts
Abstract
Thought suppression (i.e. consciously trying to avoid certain thoughts from entering consciousness) has been argued to be an inadequate strategy in case of unwanted intrusions. That is, thought suppression seems to result in more rather than less intrusions. Although this experimental finding has been explained in terms of failing attempts to distract oneself from the target thought, the White Bear Suppression Inventory (WBSI; a scale that measures chronic thought suppression tendencies) does not address the means by which respondents try to suppress unwanted thoughts. To examine which strategies of mental control people use to suppress unwanted thoughts, obsessive-compulsive disorder patients (N=47) completed the WBSI, the Thought Control Questionnaire, and two measures of psychopathology. Results suggest that the crucial mechanism in thought suppression may not be distraction, but self-punishment.
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Research on thought suppression reveals that asking subjects to avoid specific thoughts can increase the frequency of these thoughts.
“Research on thought suppression reveals that asking subjects to avoid specific thoughts can increase the frequency of these thoughts (18-20) .”
From Aceptación de miedos a la recaída en pacientes con cáncer de mama: efectos de una intervención abreviada basada en la ACT (2016) · cites this paper as [20]
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- Authors
- Rassin, E., & Diepstraten, P.
- Affiliations
- Erasmus University Rotterdam (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Rassin, Eric
- ORCID
- Rassin, Eric
- Venue
- Behaviour Research and Therapy
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2003-01
- Volume
- 41
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 97-103
- ISSN
- 0005-7967 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2159507872
- Cited by
- 49
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 3.53
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Behaviour Research and Therapy (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Mind wandering and attention
- Keywords
- thought suppression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, intrusive thoughts, White Bear Suppression Inventory, self-punishment, distraction, psychopathology
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Female, Humans, Internal-External Control, Male, Middle Aged, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Psychometrics, Surveys and Questionnaires, Repression, Psychology, Thinking
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