Does anyone know of any work dealing with fear of relaxation? I have seen this come up with patients and have found exposure principles a helpful addition to treatment. I've been searching around and haven't come up with much of anything. Thanks!
The noogenic neurosis also known as the Sunday neurosis is a term used in Viktor Frankl's logotherapy. It means that you are afraid of the emptiness a day of relaxation would bring. To not be obsessed with work or to not run from gathering to gathering means that you will be left alone to deliberate the meaning of life. While energy cannot be created nor destroyed but can be transformed , there is an afterlife and you would need to think about existential questions. perhaps euthanasia is not the answer to fear and pain, it may transfer you to another existence that may be worse than the one you are living in now. I attach our papers on different choices to deal with the fear of pain and unwanted suffering.
Relaxation sensitivity indexes the fear of relaxation-related events. The purpose of this study was to develop and provide initial validation of a self-report measure of relaxation sensitivity, the Relaxation Sensitivity Index (RSI). Three independent samples of undergraduate students (n = 300 unselected, n = 349 nonclinical, and n = 197 with elevated anxiety/depression symptoms) completed self-report measures to examine the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the RSI. Results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a three-factor structure (correlated physical, cognitive, and social concerns). The RSI demonstrated good internal consistency and construct validity as evidenced by expected correlations with measures of anxiety and depression symptoms. The RSI showed good predictive validity in terms of a history of fearful responding to relaxation. RSI scores were significantly higher in the symptomatic compared with nonclinical sample. Results suggest the RSI is a valid and reliable measure that may be useful in clinical and research settings.
Article Development and Initial Validation of the Relaxation Sensitivity Index
I do not know if its according to your subject or not,
but We should consider this from 2 aspect:
1: I have seen your talking conditions in patients like this:
There is memory of very nice moment linked with unpleasant outcome from significant other in that memory. At early ages.
These kind of patients usually gets anxiety with relaxing stimulus.
For this kind of problem I suppose relational dynamics therapy works fine.
2: The second thing I can add is Existential Anxiety of freedom. And Anxiety of loneliness.
You know in existential psychotherapy the order and structures are some types symptoms which are used to suppress the real anxiety of freedom or loneliness.
As psychoanalyst we can listen to these symptoms with these insights. And the roots of these anxieties are existential I suppose.
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