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Psychological Reports Feb 2018Procrastination has been described as the quintessence of self-regulatory failure. This study examines the relationships between this self-regulatory failure and other...
Procrastination has been described as the quintessence of self-regulatory failure. This study examines the relationships between this self-regulatory failure and other manifestations of self-regulation problems, namely impulsivity and intrusive thoughts. One hundred and forty-one participants completed questionnaires assessing procrastination, impulsivity (in particular, the urgency and lack of perseverance dimensions), and intrusive thoughts (i.e., rumination and daydreaming). Main results show that urgency mediated the association between rumination and procrastination, whereas rumination did not mediate the relation between urgency and procrastination. Lack of perseverance mediated the association between daydreaming and procrastination, and daydreaming mediated the relation between lack of perseverance and procrastination. This study highlights the role of impulsivity and intrusive thoughts in procrastination, specifies the links between these self-regulation problems, and provides insights into their (potential) underlying mechanisms. It also opens interesting prospects for management strategies for implementing targeted psychological interventions to reduce impulsive manifestations and/or thought control difficulties accompanying procrastination.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Female; Humans; Impulsive Behavior; Male; Procrastination; Rumination, Cognitive; Self-Control; Thinking; Young Adult
PubMed: 28776482
DOI: 10.1177/0033294117720695 -
BMJ Case Reports Jan 2022A 35-year-old primigravida presented with significant anxiety symptoms at 26 weeks' gestation. Symptoms were preceded by a nightmare about her upcoming labour. She...
A 35-year-old primigravida presented with significant anxiety symptoms at 26 weeks' gestation. Symptoms were preceded by a nightmare about her upcoming labour. She developed repetitive intrusive thoughts of being trapped emotionally and physically in her pregnancy. Her symptoms were suggestive of new-onset claustrophobia associated with pregnancy, which has not been previously reported on. Her symptoms ameliorated with a combination of cognitive-behavioural therapy and pharmacotherapy (sertraline and low dose quetiapine). The later stages of pregnancy were associated with minimal symptoms and the resolution of her subjective 'entrapment'. A subsequent pregnancy resulted in similar although less severe symptomatology. No postpartum anxiety symptoms were demonstrated on both occasions. Anxiety symptoms can adversely impact both the mother and fetus, and thus correct identification and management of pregnancy-related claustrophobia improved symptomatology and functioning and allowed for earlier detection and reduced symptomatology in a subsequent pregnancy.
Topics: Adult; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; Female; Gestational Age; Humans; Mothers; Phobic Disorders; Postpartum Period; Pregnancy
PubMed: 35027381
DOI: 10.1136/bcr-2021-246568 -
Anthropology and Humanism Jun 2022"Intrusive thoughts" are common symptoms of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders such as postpartum obsessive-compulsive disorder. These thoughts can include horrific...
"Intrusive thoughts" are common symptoms of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders such as postpartum obsessive-compulsive disorder. These thoughts can include horrific flashes of violence involving one's baby and frequently lead to shame and fear on the mother's part, but rarely result in real-world violence. Clinicians tend to downplay the importance of these images' content and calm women by reminding them that they will not act on their impulses. This article leans into the dark nature of intrusive thoughts. I intersperse theoretical and ethnographic reflections with vivid fragments of narratives about intrusive thoughts collected from several years of ethnographic research conducted with postpartum women in the United States. I explore the fear, rage, and repulsion that characterize the thoughts themselves and the racism, classism, and sexism involved in clinical, institutional, and interpersonal responses to them. I suggest that dwelling on the "unthinkable" images contained within intrusive thoughts may be important for understanding and accepting the realities of mother love.
PubMed: 36061237
DOI: 10.1111/anhu.12379 -
F1000prime Reports 2014Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common, often debilitating disorder characterized by the presence of obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are repetitive... (Review)
Review
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common, often debilitating disorder characterized by the presence of obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are repetitive thoughts or images which are experienced as intrusive and unwanted; they cause marked anxiety and distress. Compulsions (also known as rituals) are repetitive behaviors or mental acts that individuals with OCD perform in an attempt to decrease their anxiety. Patients tend to hide their symptoms due to shame; the amount of time between onset of symptoms and appropriate treatment is often many years. The disorder likely results from several etiological variables; functional imaging studies have consistently shown hyperactivity in the orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate, thalamus, and striatum. The mainstays of treatment include cognitive-behavioral therapy in the form of exposure and response prevention (ERP) and serotonin reuptake inhibiting medications. Several pharmacological augmentation strategies exist for treatment-resistant OCD, with addition of antipsychotics being most commonly employed. Radio and neurosurgical procedures, including gamma knife radiation and deep brain stimulation, are reserved for severe, treatment-refractory disease that has not responded to multiple treatments, and some patients may benefit from transcranial magnetic stimulation.
PubMed: 25165567
DOI: 10.12703/P6-68 -
The Primary Care Companion For CNS... Feb 2021Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an uncomfortable response that can follow exposure to 1 or more dangerous or frighteningly traumatic circumstances. Symptoms... (Review)
Review
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an uncomfortable response that can follow exposure to 1 or more dangerous or frighteningly traumatic circumstances. Symptoms often include intrusive thoughts, insomnia, nightmares, flashbacks, avoidance behaviors, and hypervigilance or related emotionally troubling experiences. When overtly present, PTSD induces considerable emotional, social, occupational, and interpersonal dysfunctions. Psychotherapy is a commonly recommended initial intervention. There are a wide variety of techniques available. Psychotherapy can also be utilized as a preventative measure when intervention is available in the immediate aftermath of exposure to a potentially precipitating event. Most combat veterans with PTSD at Veterans Administration medical centers in the United States are prescribed pharmacotherapy. Different antidepressant, antipsychotic, adrenergic, and anticonvulsant medications are most commonly utilized. Optimal intervention for patients experiencing PTSD often includes prolonged follow-up that applies both talk and drug therapies in a supportive environment. This narrative review describes psychotherapeutic and pharmacologic approaches to treat PTSD.
Topics: Antidepressive Agents; Dreams; Humans; Psychotropic Drugs; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic; United States; Veterans
PubMed: 34000134
DOI: 10.4088/PCC.19nr02572 -
Clinical Psychological Science : a... Jul 2015Adaptive behavior relies on the ability to effectively and efficiently ignore irrelevant information, an important component of attentional control. The current research...
Adaptive behavior relies on the ability to effectively and efficiently ignore irrelevant information, an important component of attentional control. The current research found that fundamental difficulties in ignoring irrelevant material are related to dispositional differences in trait propensity to worry, suggesting a core deficit in attentional control in high worriers. The degree of deficit in attentional control correlated with the degree of difficulty in suppressing negative thought intrusions in a worry assessment task. A cognitive training procedure utilizing a flanker task was used in an attempt to improve attentional control. Although the cognitive training was largely ineffective, improvements in attentional control were associated with improvements in the ability to suppress worry-related thought intrusions. Across two studies, the findings indicate that the inability to control worry-related negative thought intrusions is associated with a general deficiency in attentional control.
PubMed: 26504672
DOI: 10.1177/2167702615575878 -
Journal of Advanced Nursing Apr 2023To report an analysis of the concept of post-separation abuse and its impact on the health of children and adult survivors. (Review)
Review
AIM
To report an analysis of the concept of post-separation abuse and its impact on the health of children and adult survivors.
DESIGN
Concept analysis.
DATA SOURCES
A literature search was conducted via PubMed, Cochrane and Embase and identified articles published from 1987 to 2021.
METHODS
Walker and Avant's (2019) eight stage methodology was used for this concept analysis, including identifying the concept, determining the purpose of analysis, identifying uses of the concept, defining attributes, identifying a model case and contrary case, antecedents and consequences and defining empirical referents.
RESULTS
Post-separation abuse can be defined as the ongoing, willful pattern of intimidation of a former intimate partner including legal abuse, economic abuse, threats and endangerment to children, isolation and discrediting and harassment and stalking. An analysis of literature identified essential attributes including fear and intimidation; domination, power and control; intrusion and entrapment; omnipresence; and manipulation of systems. Antecedents to post-separation abuse include patriarchal norms, physical separation, children, spatiality and availability, pre-separation IPV and coercive control and perpetrator characteristics. Consequences include lethality, adverse health consequences, institutional violence and betrayal, such as loss of child custody and economic deprivation.
CONCLUSION
This concept analysis provides a significant contribution to the literature because it advances the science for understanding the phenomenon of post-separation abuse. It will aid in developing risk assessment tools and interventions to improve standards of care for adult and children survivors following separation from an abusive partner.
IMPACT
This concept analysis of post-separation abuse provides a comprehensive insight into the phenomenon and a theoretical foundation to inform instrument development, future research and intervention. Post-separation abuse is a complex, multi-faceted phenomenon that requires differential social, legal and healthcare systems responses to support the health and well-being of survivors and their children.
Topics: Adult; Child; Humans; Violence; Coercion; Survivors; Sexual Partners; Concept Formation
PubMed: 35621362
DOI: 10.1111/jan.15310 -
World Journal of Psychiatry Feb 2020Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a severe mental illness characterized by persistent, intrusive and distressing obsessions and/or compulsions. Such symptoms have... (Review)
Review
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a severe mental illness characterized by persistent, intrusive and distressing obsessions and/or compulsions. Such symptoms have been conceptualized as resulting from a failure in source-monitoring processes, suggesting that patients with OCD fail to distinguish actions they perform from those they just imagine doing. In this study, we aimed to provide an updated and exhaustive review of the literature examining the relationship between source-monitoring and OCD. A systematic search in the literature through January 2019 allowed us to identify 13 relevant publications investigating source-monitoring abilities in patients with OCD or participants with subclinical compulsive symptoms. Most of the retrieved studies did not report any source-monitoring deficits in clinical and subclinical subjects compared with healthy volunteers. However, most of the studies reported that patients with OCD and subclinical subjects displayed reduced confidence in source-monitoring judgments or global cognitive confidence compared to controls. The present review highlighted some methodological and statistical limitations. Consequently, further studies are needed to explore source monitoring with regard to the subcategories of OCD symptoms (., symmetry-ordering, contamination-washing, hoarding, aggressive obsession-checking, sexual-religious thoughts) and to clarify the relationship between source-monitoring subtypes (., reality or internal source-monitoring) and confidence in these populations.
PubMed: 32149045
DOI: 10.5498/wjp.v10.i2.12 -
Nicotine & Tobacco Research : Official... May 2023Craving is considered a central process to addictive behavior including cigarette smoking, although the clinical utility of craving relies on how it is defined and...
INTRODUCTION
Craving is considered a central process to addictive behavior including cigarette smoking, although the clinical utility of craving relies on how it is defined and measured. Network analysis enables examining the network structure of craving symptoms, identifying the most central symptoms of cigarette craving, and improving our understanding of craving and its measurement.
AIMS AND METHODS
This study used network analysis to identify the central symptoms of self-reported cigarette craving as measured by the Craving Experience Questionnaire, which assesses both craving strength and craving frequency. Data were obtained from baseline of a randomized controlled trial of mindfulness training for smoking cessation.
RESULTS
The most central symptoms in an overall cigarette craving network were the frequency of imagining its smell, imagining its taste, and intrusive thoughts. The most central symptoms of both craving frequency and craving strength sub-networks were imagining its taste, the urge to have it, and intrusive thoughts.
CONCLUSIONS
The most central craving symptoms reported by individuals in treatment for cigarette smoking were from the frequency domain, demonstrating the value of assessing craving frequency along with craving strength. Central craving symptoms included multisensory imagery (taste, smell), intrusive thoughts, and urge, providing additional evidence that these symptoms may be important to consider in craving measurement and intervention. Findings provide insight into the symptoms that are central to craving, contributing to a better understanding of cigarette cravings, and suggesting potential targets for clinical interventions.
IMPLICATIONS
This study used network analysis to identify central symptoms of cigarette craving. Both craving frequency and strength were assessed. The most central symptoms of cigarette craving were related to craving frequency. Central symptoms included multisensory imagery, intrusive thoughts, and urge. Central symptoms might be targeted by smoking cessation treatment.
Topics: Humans; Cigarette Smoking; Cognition; Craving; Smoking Cessation; Nicotiana; Tobacco Products
PubMed: 36757093
DOI: 10.1093/ntr/ntad021