title: Self-distancing from trauma memories reduces physiological but not subjective emotional reactivity among Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.
abstract: Self-distancing, or viewing oneself from a third-person perspective, reduces reactivity when analyzing one's feelings. Self-distancing may have important effects among individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), who have heightened emotional and physiological reactivity to trauma memories, but the effects of self-distancing in this group are unclear. We randomly assigned 48 Veterans diagnosed with PTSD to analyze their trauma-related feelings from an immersed (first-person) or distanced (third-person) perspective, and measured physiological and subjective emotional reactivity. Self-distancing during trauma analysis protected against increases in physiological reactivity, such that participants in the immersed condition showed a significant increase in heart rate and skin conductance responses not seen in the distanced condition. However, self-distancing had no effect on self-reported emotional reactivity. Our findings suggest that the effects of self-distancing on subjective emotions may not extend to trauma memories. However, self-distancing during trauma analysis did change physiological reactivity, suggesting at least a short-term benefit for individuals with PTSD.
authors.affiliation: University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
authors.forename: Blair E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Wisco
authors.affiliation: National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System ; Boston University School of Medicine.
authors.forename: Brian P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Marx
authors.affiliation: National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System ; Boston University School of Medicine.
authors.forename: Denise M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Sloan
authors.affiliation: National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System.
authors.forename: Kaitlyn R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Gorman
authors.affiliation: National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System.
authors.forename: Andrea L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Kulish
authors.affiliation: National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System ; Boston University School of Medicine.
authors.forename: Suzanne L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Pineles
keywords: PTSD; Self-distancing; memory; trauma; visual perspective