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BABCP spring meeting: David Barlow's unified protocol - emotional avoidance, edb's & physical sensation tolerance (fifth post)

This is the fifth in a series of posts about David Barlow & colleagues' new unified protocol for treatment of anxiety, depression & related emotional disorders.  The fourth post was on "Emotional awareness training & cognitive reappraisal" and this one is on the fifth & sixth modules in the eight module training - "Emotional avoidance & emotion driven behaviours (EDB's)" (typically taking one to three treatment sessions) and "Awareness & tolerance of physical sensations" (typically taking just one treatment session).

Recent research: six studies on the long-term effects of abuse & deprivation

Here are half a dozen studies on the long-term effects of various forms of abuse & deprivation.  Paras et al systematically reviewed the association between a history of sexual abuse and a lifetime diagnosis of a somatic disorder.  They found significant links with functional gastrointestinal disorders, nonspecific chronic pain, psychogenic seizures, and chronic pelvic pain.  When analysis was restricted to studies where sexual abuse was defined as rape, they also found an association with fibromyalgia.  Abstracts and links, for this research paper and the further papers described, can be found lower down this page.   

Recent research: a mixed bag of studies on personality, paranoia, burnout, somatization, and relationships

This week's recent research post is a mixed bag of six studies covering the physiological & psychological changes triggered by being separated from one's partner, why similar levels of anxiety & interpersonal sensitivity can lead to social anxiety in some individuals and paranoia in others, how difficulty identifying feelings is associated with increased somatization, the frequency of burnout in family doctors around Europe, personality factors that predict a longer life, and how wrong the old saying is that "Sticks & stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me"!  

Somatoform disorders

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sufferers from somatoform disorders report physical symptoms that, despite full investigation, are not adequately explained by a medical illness, substance abuse, or another psychological disorder. The somatoform disorders category includes health anxiety disorder (hypochondriasis), somatization disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, and other related conditions.

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