scholarly journals EMDR as Treatment Option for Conditions Other Than PTSD: A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Scelles ◽  
Luis Carlo Bulnes

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The technique is known to facilitate reprocessing of maladaptive memories that are thought to be central to this pathology. Here we investigate if EMDR therapy can be used in other conditions. We conducted a systematic literature search on PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Web of Science. We searched for published empirical findings on EMDR, excluding those centred on trauma and PTSD, published up to 2020. The results were classified by psychiatric categories. Ninety articles met our research criteria. A positive effect was reported in numerous pathological situations, namely in addictions, somatoform disorders, sexual dysfunction, eating disorders, disorders of adult personality, mood disorders, reaction to severe stress, anxiety disorders, performance anxiety, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), pain, neurodegenerative disorders, mental disorders of childhood and adolescence, and sleep. Some studies reported that EMDR was successful in usually uncooperative (e.g., Dementia) or unproductive cases (e.g., aphasia). Moreover, in some severe medical conditions, when psychological distress was an obstacle, EMDR allowed the continuation of treatment-as-usual. Furthermore, the effects observed in non-pathological situations invite for translational research. Despite a generally positive outlook of EMDR as an alternative treatment option, more methodologically rigorous studies are needed. We discuss the advantages and limitations and possible implications for the hypothesised mechanisms of action.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Scelles ◽  
LUIS CARLO BULNES

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a treatment for post-traumatic stressdisorder (PTSD). The technique is known to stimulate the capacity to reprocess maladaptive memoriesthat are thought to be central to this pathology. Here we investigate if EMDR therapy can be used in otherconditions than PTSD. We conducted a systematic literature search on PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Web of Science. Wesearched for published empirical findings on EMDR, excluding those centred on trauma and PTSD,published up to 2020. The results were classified by psychiatric categories.   Ninety articles met our research criteria. A positive effect was reported in addictions, somatoformdisorders, sexual dysfunction, eating disorder, disorders of adult personality, mood disorders, reaction tosevere stress, anxiety disorders, performance anxiety, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), pain,neurodegenerative disorders, paedopsychiatry and sleep. The evidence was more consistent in pain, OCD,mood disorders, and reaction to severe stress.EMDR’s efficiency across numerous pathological situations, highlighted the central role of affectivememory in several psychiatric and non-psychiatric conditions. Furthermore, EMDR seems to besuccessful in usually uncooperative (e.g. Dementia) or unproductive cases (e.g. aphasia). Moreover, insome severe medical situations were psychologic distress was an obstacle, EMDR allowed thecontinuation of treatment-as-usual. Our review suggests that it is a safe and economical therapeuticoption, and its effect in non-pathological situations opens new avenues for translational research. Overallmore methodologically rigorous studies are needed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 215013272110167
Author(s):  
Tara Rava Zolnikov ◽  
Tanya Clark ◽  
Tessa Zolnikov

Anxiety and fear felt by people around the world regarding the coronavirus pandemic is real and can be overwhelming, resulting in strong emotional reactions in adults and children. With depressive and anxiety disorders already highly prevalent in the general population (300 million worldwide), depression and/or anxiety specifically because of the pandemic response is likely. Moreover, the current state of panic in the face of uncertainty is apt to produce significant amounts of stress. While this situation has the potential to cause psychological disorders in previously unaffected populations, perhaps more impactful is the exacerbation of symptoms of many existing disorders including anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and hoarding disorder.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tae-jun Choi ◽  
Honggu Lee

AbstractDefense responses are a highly conserved behavioral response set across species. Defense responses motivate organisms to detect and react to threats and potential danger as a precursor to anxiety. Accurate measurement of temporal defense responses is important for understanding clinical anxiety and mood disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. Within these conditions, anxiety is defined as a state of prolonged defense response elicitation to a threat that is ambiguous or unspecific. In this study, we aimed to develop a data-driven approach to capture temporal defense response elicitation through a multi-modality data analysis of physiological signals, including electroencephalogram (EEG), electrocardiogram (ECG), and eye-tracking information. A fear conditioning paradigm was adopted to develop a defense response classification model. From a classification model based on 42 feature sets, a higher order crossing feature set-based model was chosen for further analysis with cross-validation loss of 0.0462 (SEM: 0.0077). To validate our model, we compared predicted defense response occurrence ratios from a comprehensive situation that generates defense responses by watching movie clips with fear awareness and threat existence predictability, which have been reported to correlate with defense response elicitation in previous studies. We observed that defense response occurrence ratios are correlated with threat existence predictability, but not with fear awareness. These results are similar to those of previous studies using comprehensive situations. Our study provides insight into measurement of temporal defense responses via a novel approach, which can improve understanding of anxiety and related clinical disorders for neurobiological and clinical researchers.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eshim S Jami ◽  
Anke R Hammerschlag ◽  
Hill F Ip ◽  
Andrea G Allegrini ◽  
Beben Benyamin ◽  
...  

Internalising symptoms in childhood and adolescence are as heritable as adult depression and anxiety, yet little is known of their molecular basis. This genome-wide association meta-analysis of internalising symptoms included repeated observations from 64,641 individuals, aged between 3 and 18. The N-weighted meta-analysis of overall internalising symptoms (INToverall) detected no genome-wide significant hits and showed low SNP heritability (1.66%, 95% confidence intervals 0.84-2.48%, Neffective=132,260). Stratified analyses showed rater-based heterogeneity in genetic effects, with self-reported internalising symptoms showing the highest heritability (5.63%, 95% confidence intervals 3.08-8.18%). Additive genetic effects on internalising symptoms appeared stable over age, with overlapping estimates of SNP heritability from early-childhood to adolescence. Gene-based analyses showed significant associations with three genes: WNT3 (p=1.13×10-06), CCL26 (p=1.88×10-06), and CENPO (p=2.54×10-06). Of these, WNT3 was previously associated with neuroticism, with which INToverall also shared a strong genetic correlation (rg=0.76). Genetic correlations were also observed with adult anxiety, depression, and the wellbeing spectrum (|rg|> 0.70), as well as with insomnia, loneliness, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, and childhood aggression (range |rg|=0.42-0.60), whereas there were no robust associations with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or anorexia nervosa. Overall, childhood and adolescent internalising symptoms share substantial genetic vulnerabilities with adult internalising disorders and other childhood psychiatric traits, which could explain both the persistence of internalising symptoms over time, and the high comorbidity amongst childhood psychiatric traits. Reducing phenotypic heterogeneity in childhood samples will be key in paving the way to future GWAS success.


Author(s):  
Monnica T. Williams

Abstract: This chapter discusses the research regarding microaggressions and negative mental health outcomes. Microaggressions are associated with increased stress, increased physical ailments such as hypertension and impaired immune responses, increased depression and depressive symptoms, lower self-esteem and self-efficacy, increased alcohol abuse and binge drinking, substance use disorders, increased post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, higher levels of suicidal ideation, increased anxiety, increased somatic symptoms and negative affect, and increased obsessive–compulsive disorder symptoms. Overall, those who experience everyday discrimination have higher odds of any lifetime mental health issue. This is illustrated using a case example of a student who developed depression and anxiety from experiencing microaggressions in school, leading to a negative impact on mental health. The chapter presents an example interaction between a client and a therapist illustrating that microaggressions can be harmful to White people as well in indirect ways. Furthermore, to address mental health disparities and treatment barriers as a result of various pathways including microaggressions, clinicians need to address their own possible implicit biases that can lead to perpetuating these problems.


Author(s):  
Walter Sinnott-Armstrong ◽  
Jesse S. Summers

Biopsychosocial theories of mental illness claim that biological, psychological, and social factors are all central to every mental illness. This general approach cannot be assessed or employed properly without specifying the precise relation between mental illnesses and these three levels of understanding. This chapter distinguishes disjunctive, causal, explanatory, therapeutic (or treatment), and constitutive (or definitional) versions of biopsychosocial theories. However, all of these claims are uncontroversial and not distinctive of the biopsychosocial approach, except the constitutive claim. That constitutive claim is inaccurate, because almost all mental illnesses are and should be defined by their psychological symptoms instead of their biological or social causes. These lessons are applied to case studies of post-traumatic stress disorder, disinhibited social engagement disorder, obsessive–compulsive disorder, and scrupulosity.


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