Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T08:10:44.005Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

It's the Feeling Inside My Head: A Qualitative Analysis of Mental Contamination in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 December 2011

Anna E. Coughtrey ,
Roz Shafran ,
Michelle Lee  and
Stanley J. Rachman
Anna E. Coughtrey*
Affiliation:
Reading University, UK
Roz Shafran
Affiliation:
Reading University, UK
Michelle Lee
Affiliation:
Reading University, UK
Stanley J. Rachman
Affiliation:
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
*
Reprint requests to Anna Coughtrey, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, Reading University, Earley Gate, Reading RG6 6AL, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background: It was recently proposed that feelings of dirtiness and pollution can arise in the absence of physical contact with a contaminant. At present, there is limited data regarding the qualitative features of this construct of “mental contamination”, although it is hypothesized to be particularly relevant to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), where compulsive washing in response to contamination fear is a common symptom presentation (Rachman, 2006). Aims and method: The aim of this research was to explore the qualitative features of mental contamination in 20 people with contamination-based OCD, using a semi-structured interview. Results: All participants reported times when they had felt dirty or contaminated in the absence of physical contact with a dirty or dangerous object. Mental contamination generated diffuse feelings of internal dirtiness not localized to the hands, which evoked urges to wash (100% participants), neutralize (80% participants) and avoid (85% participants). Conclusions: In support of the theory outlined by Rachman (2006), mental contamination was found to take a number of forms, be primarily associated with a human source, generate internal dirtiness and cause emotional distress and urge to wash. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed and ideas for future research are proposed.

Keywords

Contamination fearOCDcompulsive washingmental pollution
Type
Research Article
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 40 , Issue 2 , March 2012 , pp. 163 - 173
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brown, T. A., DiNardo, P. and Barlow, D. H. (1994). Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule Adult Version (ADIS-IV): client interview schedule. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
de Silva, P. and Marks, M. (1999). The role of traumatic experiences in the genesis of OCD. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 37, 941–951.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fairbrother, N., Newth, S. and Rachman, S. J. (2005). Mental pollution: feelings of dirtiness without physical contact. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 42, 173–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foa, E. B., Kozak, M. J., Goodman, W. K., Hollander, E., Jenike, M. A. and Rasmussen, S. A. (1995). DSM-IV field trial: obsessive-compulsive disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 90–96.Google ScholarPubMed
Gershuny, B., Baer, L., Radomsky, A., Wilson, K. and Jenike, M. (2003). Connections among symptoms of OCD and PTSD: a case series. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 41, 1029–1042.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Herba, J. (2005). Individual Differences in Psychological Feelings of Contamination. MA Dissertation, University of British Columbia.Google Scholar
Holmes, E. A. and Mathews, A. (2005). Mental imagery and emotion: a special relationship? Emotion, 5, 489–497.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holmes, E. A., Lang, T. J. and Shah, D. M. (2009). Developing interpretation bias modification as a “cognitive vaccine” for depressed mood: imagining positive events makes you feel better than thinking about them verbally. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 118, 76–88.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lee, M., Roberts-Collins, C., Coughtrey, A. E., Phillips, L. and Shafran, R. (2011). Behavioural expressions, imagery and perfectionism. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 39, 413–425.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Philips, C. H. (2011). Imagery and pain: the prevalence, characteristics and potency of imagery associated with pain. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 39, 523–540.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rachman, S. J. (2004). Fear of contamination. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 42, 1227–1255.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rachman, S. J. (2006). The Fear of Contamination: assessment and treatment. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salkovskis, P. M. (1985). Obsessional compulsive problems: a cognitive behavioural analysis. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 23, 571–583.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, J. A. (Ed.) (2003). Qualitative Psychology: a practical guide to research methods. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Speckens, A. E. M., Hackmann, A., Ehlers, A. and Cuthbert, B. (2007). Intrusive images and memories of earlier adverse events in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Journal of Behaviour Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 38, 411–422.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Volz, C. and Heyman, I. (2007). Case series: transformation obsession in young people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 46, 766–772.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zhong, C. and Liljenquist, K. A. (2006). Washing away your sins: threatened morality and physical cleansing. Science, 313, 1451–1452.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.