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Abnormal and normal obsessions: a reconsideration.

Eric Rassin1, Peter Muris

  • 1Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Psychology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, P.O. Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands. rassin@fsw.eur.nl

Behaviour Research and Therapy
|June 30, 2006
PubMed
Summary

Psychologists can distinguish clinical obsessions from normal intrusive thoughts based on content alone. This finding challenges the assumption that obsessions are qualitatively similar, regardless of clinical significance.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Clinical Psychology
  • Cognitive Science

Background:

  • Contemporary cognitive models of obsession often assume no qualitative difference between clinical and non-clinical obsessive intrusions.
  • This assumption originates from the work of Rachman and De Silva (1978).
  • This paper re-examines Rachman and De Silva's findings, suggesting they did not propose complete indifference between clinical and non-clinical obsessions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To re-evaluate the assumption that the content of clinical obsessions is indistinguishable from non-clinical obsessive intrusions.
  • To investigate whether psychologists can differentiate between clinical and non-clinical obsessions based solely on their content.

Main Methods:

  • Study 1: Statistical re-analysis of data from Rachman and De Silva (1978).

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  • Study 2: Presentation of clinical and non-clinical obsessions to psychotherapists and psychology undergraduates for discrimination.
  • Participants: 11 psychotherapists and 90 psychology undergraduates evaluated 23 clinical and 47 non-clinical obsessions.

    • Main Results:

    • Statistical re-analysis indicated that psychologists could discriminate between clinical and non-clinical obsessions based on content.
    • Both psychotherapists and psychology students successfully distinguished clinical from non-clinical obsessions above chance levels.
    • The content of obsessions provided sufficient information for differentiation.

    Conclusions:

    • Some clinical obsessions possess identifiable characteristics that distinguish them as abnormal.
    • The findings suggest that the content of obsessions can be a valid marker for clinical significance.
    • Further theoretical and empirical research is necessary to understand the origins of these discernible abnormal obsessions.