Reading University, UK.
Behav Cogn Psychother. 2012 Mar;40(2):163-73. doi: 10.1017/S1352465811000658. Epub 2011 Dec 21.
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).
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.
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).
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.
最近有人提出，即使没有与污染物直接接触，也可能产生肮脏和污染的感觉。目前，关于这种“心理污染”结构的定性特征的数据有限，尽管人们假设它与强迫症（OCD）特别相关，因为对污染恐惧的强迫性洗涤是常见的症状表现（Rachman，2006）。
本研究旨在通过半结构化访谈，探索 20 名基于污染的 OCD 患者心理污染的定性特征。
所有参与者都报告了在没有与肮脏或危险物体直接接触的情况下感到肮脏或污染的情况。心理污染产生弥漫性的内部肮脏感，而不是局限于手部，这引发了洗涤的冲动（100%的参与者）、中和（80%的参与者）和避免（85%的参与者）。
支持 Rachman（2006）提出的理论，发现心理污染有多种形式，主要与人为源有关，产生内部肮脏感，并导致情绪困扰和洗涤冲动。讨论了这些发现的临床意义，并提出了未来研究的想法。
