Wisco Blair E, Marx Brian P, Sloan Denise M, Gorman Kaitlyn R, Kulish Andrea L, Pineles Suzanne L
University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System ; Boston University School of Medicine.
Clin Psychol Sci. 2015 Nov 1;3(6):956-963. doi: 10.1177/2167702614560745. Epub 2015 Mar 10.
Self-distancing, or viewing oneself from a third-person perspective, reduces reactivity when analyzing one's feelings. Self-distancing may have important effects among individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), who have heightened emotional and physiological reactivity to trauma memories, but the effects of self-distancing in this group are unclear. We randomly assigned 48 Veterans diagnosed with PTSD to analyze their trauma-related feelings from an immersed (first-person) or distanced (third-person) perspective, and measured physiological and subjective emotional reactivity. Self-distancing during trauma analysis protected against increases in physiological reactivity, such that participants in the immersed condition showed a significant increase in heart rate and skin conductance responses not seen in the distanced condition. However, self-distancing had no effect on self-reported emotional reactivity. Our findings suggest that the effects of self-distancing on subjective emotions may not extend to trauma memories. However, self-distancing during trauma analysis did change physiological reactivity, suggesting at least a short-term benefit for individuals with PTSD.
自我疏离，即从第三人称视角看待自己，在分析自身感受时会降低反应性。自我疏离可能对患有创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）的个体产生重要影响，这类个体对创伤记忆的情绪和生理反应性增强，但自我疏离在该群体中的效果尚不清楚。我们将48名被诊断患有PTSD的退伍军人随机分组，让他们从沉浸（第一人称）或疏离（第三人称）视角分析与创伤相关的感受，并测量生理和主观情绪反应性。在创伤分析过程中，自我疏离可防止生理反应性增加，以至于处于沉浸状态的参与者心率和皮肤电导率反应显著增加，而处于疏离状态的参与者则未出现这种情况。然而，自我疏离对自我报告的情绪反应性没有影响。我们的研究结果表明，自我疏离对主观情绪的影响可能不会延伸至创伤记忆。然而，在创伤分析过程中自我疏离确实改变了生理反应性，这表明至少对患有PTSD的个体有短期益处。
