Adults with an anxiety disorder or with an obsessive-compulsive disorder are less playful: A matched control comparison

an article by Benthe Versluys (Research Institute Innova, Ermelo, The Netherlands; Zuyd University of Applied Science, Heerlen, The Netherlands) published in The Arts in Psychotherapy Volume 56 (November 2017)

Highlights

• Playfulness is part of drama therapy and is related to accessing more varied coping skills.
• This study hypothesized that adults with AD or OCD are less playful.
• Three scales measured the playfulness in a control and an experiment group.
• Findings indicated that adults with AD or OCD are significantly less playful than adults without AD or OCD.
• Therapies which aim to increase playfulness in adults with AD or OCD may be indicated to reduce symptoms.

Abstract

Playfulness is an important component of drama therapy. For adults with an anxiety disorder (AD) or an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) playfulness might be an unconsciously missed component in life.

Therefore strengthening a client’s playfulness could be a major aim of drama therapy with these disorders. Where less playfulness is identified, drama therapy based interventions could be applied to strengthen playfulness.

Therefore providing a contribution to treatments available to the client suffering from AD/OCD. Using drama therapy interventions would be less probable to cause negative side effects.

In an online-survey both Group 1 (34 adults with AD/OCD), and Group 2 (34 adults without AD/OCD), filled in three scales assessing their level of playfulness. On all three scales the playfulness in Group 1 (M = 77.88; M = 62.00; M = 69.12) was significantly lower (p = .000 at all three scales) than the playfulness in Group 2 (M = 92.09; M = 80.24; M = 81.21). The relationship between having an AD or OCD and being less playful is statistically significant (Pearson’s Correlation of respectively −.458; −.639; −.464).

A difference in playfulness within Group 1 in specified AD/OCD could not be distinguished. The results indicate that playfulness could specifically be part of treatment through drama therapy with adults with AD/OCD.

Graphical Abstract

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How To Tell The Difference Between Healthy And Unhealthy Anxiety

a post by Dr. Alicia H. Clark for the your tango blog


I wish that someone would illustrate a story about anxiety with an image of a man. Black, white or any shade in between but something which shows that men feel the effects of anxiety disorder as much women.

How we think about anxiety (and what we do with it) are critical to how it impacts us.

It isn’t easy to tell the difference between healthy and unhealthy anxiety. Few emotions conjure more definitional confusion than anxiety.

Websters Dictionary defines anxiety as “apprehensive uneasiness or nervousness usually over an impending or anticipated ill: a state of being anxious”. A rare few of us hasn’t felt this normal human emotion, so ubiquitous is its experience.

But anxiety is also a class of psychopathology driving more than 25 diagnoses that span nearly 100 pages in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM5), the diagnostic measuring tool for psychological disorders.

So what is it? Healthy or unhealthy?

Like to so many constructed dichotomies, the answer to this one is: it depends.

Anxiety can be both healthy and unhealthy. And telling the difference largely depends on how it impacts you, what you think about it, and what you do with it.

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How Awe Can Diminish Anxiety

a post by Tracy Shawn for the World of Psychology blog

Take a moment to think about how you felt the last time you caught yourself ruminating and/or stuck in an anxious mode. Perhaps you were stressed about money or the health of a loved one. Maybe you simply felt overwhelmed.

Now, take a moment and think about how you felt the last time you became “awe-struck.” Awe often occurs when appreciating the grandeur of nature, connecting with the beauty of art, even viewing an act of generosity toward others.

Chances are that when in an anxious state, it was hard to focus on anything else but “what-if” thoughts. Your heart races and you try with all of your might to control both your mind and body.

On the other hand, when in a state of awe or wonder, you may have felt a deep pleasure, a sense of wonder, a child-like curiosity. Your heart slows down, and you remain transfixed, gazing at the source of your awe. Most likely, you don’t want to control these positive feelings; rather, you wish for them to last even longer, and you hope to experience them on a more regular basis.

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