The relationship between unconditional self-acceptance and cognitive fusion in psychosis

Abstract

Introduction. Psychosis is one of the most debilitating psychiatric disorders, being characterized by loss of contact with reality, without consciousness being affected. Cognitive fusion as a concept is governed by metacognitive processes, in which thought dominates and directs behavior, perceived by the psychotic patient as valid and in line with reality. Materials and method. The sample consists of two groups, a target group (N=20), which includes patients diagnosed with psychosis, hospitalized in the Second Psychiatry Clinic from Târgu-Mureş, and a control group (N=20), consisting of students from the “George Emil Palade” University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology from Târgu-Mureş. There were applied the self-acceptance questionnaire (USAQ) to assess self-esteem and the cognitive fusion questionnaire (CFQ). Aim. The aim of this study is to highlight the relationship between the unconditional acceptance of one’s own person of the subjects diagnosed with psychosis and the cognitive fusion. Results. The statistical interpretation of the data showed a statistically significant difference between the target group and the control group in terms of cognitive fusion (M=26.15; t=13.07, df=38, p<0.0001; CI -62.42,-45.68), but without differences between the two groups in terms of unconditional acceptance of one’s own person (M=34.95; t=1.97, df=38, p>0.05; CI -0.27, 19.28). Conclusions. Cognitive fusion is a mechanism that is found more in psychotic patients than in controls. The present work highlights the need for more studies regarding the field of cognitive fusion and unconditional self-acceptance, for a better understanding of the factors that trigger or maintain psychotic symptoms.