Instructed neutralization, spontaneous neutralization and prevented neutralization after an obsession-like thought

Building on two earlier experiments (Behav. Res. Ther. 34 (1996) 889; 39 (2001) 1439) the present study investigated the effects of neutralizing the consequences of an obsession-like thought in healthy participants. Just like in the earlier studies, writing out and thinking over such a thought generated anxiety. After this provocation, 40 of the 120 participants were instructed to neutralize the effects of the thought for 2 min, 40 participants did not receive a particular instruction, and the remaining 40 participants were instructed to do mental arithmetic aloud so as to prevent “spontaneous” attempts at neutralizing the thought. The no instruction group reported that they neutralized (spontaneously) to the same degree as the group that was instructed to neutralize. Within 2 min, anxiety decreased to near base line levels and there were no differences between the three conditions. When the groups were asked to bring the obsession-like thought back to consciousness again, anxiety increased slightly. Yet, contrary to expectation, this increase in anxiety did not discriminate the “neutralization prevention” group from the other two groups. Limitations of the paradigm as a model for clinical obsessions are discussed.