Laureate Institute for Brain Research, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Oxley College of Health Sciences, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Laureate Institute for Brain Research, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Oxley College of Health Sciences, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging. 2018 Jun;3(6):555-562. doi: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2018.02.005. Epub 2018 Mar 9.
Floatation-REST (Reduced Environmental Stimulation Therapy), an intervention that attenuates exteroceptive sensory input to the nervous system, has recently been found to reduce state anxiety across a diverse clinical sample with high levels of anxiety sensitivity (AS). To further examine this anxiolytic effect, the present study investigated the affective and physiological changes induced by Floatation-REST and assessed whether individuals with high AS experienced any alterations in their awareness for interoceptive sensation while immersed in an environment lacking exteroceptive sensation.
Using a within-subject crossover design, 31 participants with high AS were randomly assigned to undergo a 90-minute session of Floatation-REST or an exteroceptive comparison condition. Measures of self-reported affect and interoceptive awareness were collected before and after each session, and blood pressure was measured during each session.
Relative to the comparison condition, Floatation-REST generated a significant anxiolytic effect characterized by reductions in state anxiety and muscle tension and increases in feelings of relaxation and serenity (p < .001 for all variables). Significant blood pressure reductions were evident throughout the float session and reached the lowest point during the diastole phase (average reduction >12 mm Hg). The float environment also significantly enhanced awareness and attention for cardiorespiratory sensations.
Floatation-REST induced a state of relaxation and heightened interoceptive awareness in a clinical sample with high AS. The paradoxical nature of the anxiolytic effect in this sample is discussed in relation to Wolpe's theory of reciprocal inhibition and the regulation of distress via sustained attention to present moment visceral sensations such as the breath.
漂浮休息（减少环境刺激疗法），一种减弱神经系统外感受感觉输入的干预措施，最近被发现可以降低焦虑敏感（AS）水平较高的各种临床样本中的状态焦虑。为了进一步研究这种抗焦虑作用，本研究调查了漂浮休息引起的情感和生理变化，并评估了在缺乏外感受感觉的环境中沉浸时，高 AS 个体是否对其内脏感觉的意识有任何改变。
使用单因素被试内交叉设计，31 名高 AS 参与者被随机分配到 90 分钟的漂浮休息或外感受比较条件。在每次治疗前后收集自我报告的情感和内脏感觉意识测量值，并在每次治疗过程中测量血压。
与比较条件相比，漂浮休息产生了显著的抗焦虑作用，表现为状态焦虑和肌肉紧张减少，放松和宁静感增加（所有变量均<.001）。漂浮过程中血压明显下降，在舒张期达到最低点（平均下降> 12mmHg）。漂浮环境还显著增强了对心肺感觉的意识和注意力。
漂浮休息在高 AS 的临床样本中诱导了一种放松和增强的内脏感觉意识状态。在该样本中观察到的抗焦虑作用的矛盾性质与沃尔普的交互抑制理论以及通过持续关注呼吸等当前内脏感觉来调节痛苦有关。
