Thought-stopping and Habituation in Obsessive Compulsive States : Some Observations

Introduced by G.J. Taylor, an Eighteenth century philospher, Thought stopping found its way into behaviour therapeutic procedures by the efforts of Wolpe. It is interesting to know that Wolpe himself had a bout of obsessional rumination and got it treated with thought stopping (Wolpe 1973). Subsequently Yamagami (1970) and Marks et al (1975) have reported on ovltcome that ranges from 75% to 90%. From the statistical point these results of a disorder which was considered as having poor prognosis is quite satisfactory. But for theoretical and practical considerations Foa (1979) had tried to analyse therapeutic failures closely and had described various sub-croups in this disorder. Stimulated by her observations we have analysed a group of Obsessive compulsive neurotics treated with Thought-stopping.