Anxiety, worry, depression, addiction and pessimism — imagine a world in which these disorders could be cured without the use of medicine.
Current research seeks to provide a computer program for the general population to train their brains to view the world in a more positive way.
Cognitive Bias Modification for Interpretations is a new treatment being tested for efficacy. CBM-I is a potential alternative to exposure therapy, the gold standard in treating phobias. The treatment requires an electronic training session, in which subjects are taught to change negative interpretations of ambiguous situations to more positive interpretations using positive feedback cues.
Psychology graduate student Shari Steinman and Associate Professor of Psychology Bethany Teachman published their findings on CBM-I in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology last month.
“Our study tested a computerized treatment height fear, and we found that it was as effective as actual therapy for height fear,” Steinman said. “That’s exciting because it gives us ways to allow those who cannot access therapists to receive effective treatment.”
After recruiting volunteers with a known fear of heights, Steinman and Teachman trained those who were randomly assigned to the treatment group. The participants were exposed to numerous training sessions on a computer.
During one of these sessions, the participants were exposed to a positive or negative word such as “stable” or “risky” and then shown an ambiguous sentence such as, “As you stand on a stepladder, you feel it rock slightly beneath you.” They were then asked to choose whether the word and sentence were related. Based on their choice, they were given positive or negative feedback, such as, “You are Correct!” or, “Incorrect,” which trained participants’ brains to view ambiguous situations in a positive light.
“The majority of CBM-I research looks at the treatment’s efficacy on anxiety and depression,” Steinman said. “It’s also been done on things like substance abuse, alcohol, anger management and youths.”
Human interpretations of the world have a proven link to numerous mental disorders, which makes this preliminary research on CBM-I is of importance.
“Pay attention to how you interpret things, especially things that can be interpreted in a positive or negative way,” Steinman said. “Notice how your thinking relates to how you feel — if it seems like you’re interpreting things negatively and it affects your mood in a negative way, then maybe it is something that you can work on, whether it be on your own or with a therapist.”
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