Thought-Action Fusion (TAF) is the tendency for individuals to assume that certain thoughts either increase the likelihood of catastrophic events (likelihood-TAF) or imply the immorality of their character (morality-TAF).
In more technical terms, TAF is a
polyseme
Polysemy ( or ; ) is the capacity for a sign (e.g. a symbol, morpheme, word, or phrase) to have multiple related meanings. For example, a word can have several word senses. Polysemy is distinct from '' monosemy'', where a word has a single mea ...
defining false
belief
A belief is a subjective Attitude (psychology), attitude that something is truth, true or a State of affairs (philosophy), state of affairs is the case. A subjective attitude is a mental state of having some Life stance, stance, take, or opinion ...
s or self-confusing
mind wandering about a biased and
painful association/fusion between subjects' spontaneous
thought
In their most common sense, the terms thought and thinking refer to cognitive processes that can happen independently of sensory stimulation. Their most paradigmatic forms are judging, reasoning, concept formation, problem solving, and de ...
s and imaginary latent egodystonic desires or magical-thinking capabilities.
These imaginary latent
egodystonic desires or
magical-thinking capabilities generally express harmful
actions/
behaviour
Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions of Individual, individuals, organisms, systems or Artificial intelligence, artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or or ...
s (e.g.,
compulsion
Compulsion, Compulsive, Compelling, or Compulsory may refer to:
Psychology
* Compulsive behavior, a psychological condition in which a person does a behavior compulsively, having an overwhelming feeling that they must do so.
* Obsessive–compul ...
s) that subjects appraise as highly possible, even though they have never existed so far.
Causes
The main causes of TAF are (one or several) hold false beliefs that mind-wandering episodes involving
cognitive
Cognition is the "mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thought, ...
/
interpretation biases have generated, from specific patterns of
intrusive thought
An intrusive thought is an unwelcome, involuntary thought, image, or unpleasant idea that may become an obsession, is upsetting or distressing, and can feel difficult to manage or eliminate. When such thoughts are paired with obsessive–compulsi ...
s.
Besides, a high level of
negative affectivity
In psychology, negative affectivity (NA), or negative affect, is a personality variable that involves the experience of negative emotions and poor self-concept. Negative affectivity subsumes a variety of negative emotions, including anger, contem ...
is a
mediator
Mediation is a structured, voluntary process for resolving disputes, facilitated by a neutral third party known as the mediator. It is a structured, interactive process where an independent third party, the mediator, assists disputing parties ...
in the statistical relations between TAF and the existence of psychological pains (e.g.
anxiety
Anxiety is an emotion characterised by an unpleasant state of inner wikt:turmoil, turmoil and includes feelings of dread over Anticipation, anticipated events. Anxiety is different from fear in that fear is defined as the emotional response ...
,
depression and
shame
Shame is an unpleasant self-conscious emotion often associated with negative self-evaluation; motivation to quit; and feelings of pain, exposure, distrust, powerlessness, and worthlessness.
Definition
Shame is a discrete, basic emotion, d ...
), or some mental disorders.
Examples
An
ADAA webinar highlighted several examples of TAF,
such as:
Categories
The two main categories of TAF are the:
* ''Likelihood TAF'', i.e. anxious and false beliefs (e.g. magical thinking) assuming that specific intrusive thoughts would trigger the (thought) harmful
events
Event may refer to:
Gatherings of people
* Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion
* Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest
* Event management, the organization of eve ...
in the future;
*''Moral TAF'', i.e. uncertainty-evoking and false beliefs that specific intrusive thoughts about
religiously or
ethically/morally inappropriate behaviours, are as reprehensible or shameful as actually performing the intrusive thoughts' content.
Diagnosis
Simple
interview
An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" re ...
s with specific
health professionals
A health professional, healthcare professional (HCP), or healthcare worker (sometimes abbreviated as HCW) is a provider of health care treatment and advice based on formal training and experience. The field includes those who work as a nurse, physi ...
(e.g. psychologists, psychiatrists) allow
diagnosing TAF; there also exists a reliable
psychometrics/estimator which is the: ''thought-action fusion questionnaire/scale''.
Disorders
TAF happens in the
anxiety disorder
Anxiety disorders are a group of mental disorders characterized by significant and uncontrollable feelings of anxiety and fear such that a person's social, occupational, and personal functions are significantly impaired. Anxiety may cause phys ...
s (e.g. GAD),
obsessive-compulsive disorders (e.g. pure O) and
eating disorder
An eating disorder is a mental disorder defined by abnormal eating behaviors that adversely affect a person's health, physical or mental health, mental health. These behaviors may include eating too much food or too little food. Types of eatin ...
s (e.g. anorexia); it generally worsens the mental disorders' severities or outcomes, irrespective of the treatments.
Treatments
The main medial treatments for TAF are the
cognitive-behavioral therapies,
but
mindfulness therapies like the
acceptance and commitment therapy
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT, typically pronounced as the word "act") is a form of psychotherapy, as well as a branch of clinical behavior analysis. It is an empirically-based psychological intervention that uses acceptance and mindfu ...
may also help.
Moreover
medication
Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to medical diagnosis, diagnose, cure, treat, or preventive medicine, prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmaco ...
s like
selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are a class of drugs that are typically used as antidepressants in the treatment of major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, and other psychological conditions.
SSRIs primarily work by blo ...
s may increase the psychotherapy efficiency,
by alleviating the psychological pains the TAF induces—see section on ''Causes''.
See also
*
Mental disorder
A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...
s
*
GAD
*
Pure O
*
Anorexia
Anorexia nervosa (AN), often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by Calorie restriction, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin.
Individuals wit ...
*
Medical treatment
A therapy or medical treatment is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a medical diagnosis. Both words, ''treatment'' and ''therapy'', are often abbreviated tx, Tx, or Tx.
As a rule, each therapy has indications an ...
s
*
Psychotherapies
References
{{reflist
Suffering
Thought
Belief
Polysemy