Thought Suppression in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

The volitional suppression of thoughts andrelated increases in intrusions has been posited as amodel for clinical disorders, includingobsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Personallyrelevant, negative intrusive thoughts were elicited fromparticipants with OCD and nonclinical (NC) subjects. Thenegative thoughts reported by OCD patients were highlyrelated to core clinical obsessions. Participants with OCD reported more intrusive thoughts than didNC subjects regardless of whether they attempted tosuppress obsessional intrusions. Group- orexperimental-condition related thought enhancement orrebound was not found, but a greater percentage of theOCD suppression group experienced thought rebound thandid the NC suppression group. Volitional thoughtsuppression maybe but one of many response strategies employed by individuals with OCD when negativeintrusive thoughts occur.