Blog

Man suffering from 25-year-long compulsive handwashing behavior claims it occupies 90% of his time at home and has killed his social life

In this clinical study (Le Boeuf, 1974), a 49-year-old man who had been suffering from compulsive handwashing behavior (a form of OCD) for 25 years, was treated with small electric jolts to help control this undesired behavior.

He had developed this compulsive behavior shortly after joining the army at age 24, and it persisted through a fear of contamination.

Hand washing now occupied 90% of his time at home and had virtually eliminated his social life. Additionally, due to his condition, he was forced to wake up at an unreasonably early hour to prepare for work.

Electric jolts help 49-year-old male stop compulsive handwashing behavior within 42 days — Still clear of habit 12 months later

During an initial round of treatment, the participant was given a timer to carry throughout the day. The timer would sound an alarm every 20 minutes. During those 20 minutes, the participant was asked to refrain from washing his hands using willpower alone. This approach did not have much of an effect.

For the next phase, the participant’s willpower was reinforced by using a device that would deliver an electric jolt to his forearm every time he dipped his hands in water. The only time he was allowed to immerse his hands in water was when the timer went off.

The man was then instructed to gradually increase the time limit restricting him from washing his hands. By week 6, he had increased this time limit to 2 hours.

After just 7 weeks, the man’s hand washing frequency had decreased to normal limits, while 6-month and 12-month follow-ups found he was completely free of his hand washing rituals.

3.3 million Americans aged 18 – 54, and an additional 1 million children and adolescents suffer from OCD

While the case illustrated above might be an extreme one, it is not uncommon. In fact, data shows 3.3 million Americans aged 18 – 54, and an additional 1 million children and adolescents, suffer from OCD.

In reality, a behavior doesn’t need to be a full blown OCD to become an inconvenience. It could be a small thing, such as nail biting that’s getting slightly out of control. Or maybe using too many swear words.

Over a century of research finds electric jolts effective against a multitude of habits

The treatment via electric jolts as mentioned earlier, isn’t exclusive to this case. There is almost a century of research showing the effectiveness of this method against all sorts of habits, including smoking, alcoholism, overeating, and gambling.

One particular clinical study (Lubetkin, 1974) showed how electric jolts helped a young man break free of a 3-year heroin addiction.

With such an amazing track record, this method promises to be an effective solution for a wide range of habits that keep plaguing the 21st century.

 

References

Boeuf, A. L. (1974, 12). An automated aversion device in the treatment of a compulsive handwashing ritual. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 5(3-4), 267-270. doi:10.1016/0005-7916(74)90076-7

Lubetkin, B. S., & Fishman, S. T. (1974, 12). Electrical aversion therapy with a chronic heroin user. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 5(2), 193-195. doi:10.1016/0005-7916(74)90113-X

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). (n.d.). Retrieved April 23, 2015, from https://www.lef.org/protocols/emotional-health/obsessive-compulsive-disorder/page-01

Sometimes all it takes to break a habit is awareness

Habits have a way of insinuating themselves into our lives by becoming an unconscious action. We pair them with other behaviors which they seem to “feed off” of, until they become ingrained into our systems.

For instance, if you’re a smoker, you might reach for a cigarette every time you have a coffee, or get into the car, or have a break at work. Similarly, if you habitually bite your nails, you likely do it unconsciously.

Many times, awareness is the first step towards breaking a habit. t’s rarely enough to help you quit and stay away from the behavior, but it’s a good starting point.

In this article, you’ll see how a very simple device helped a 36-year-old woman break free of her chronic hair-pulling behavior, and how you can apply this same principle to rid yourself of any habits that may be controlling your life.

Researchers at North Dakota University treat 36-year-old woman for chronic hair pulling

In a clinical study undertaken at North Dakota University, a 36-year-old woman with moderate intellectual disability was treated for chronic hair pulling. Due to this habit, she had already lost approximately 50% of her hair.

The researchers had  tried to treat this chronic behavior using an approach called SHR (Simplified Habit Reversal). This included awareness training by making the woman aware of her hair-pulling, as well as training her to cross her arms whenever she felt the urge to pull her hair.

However, this approach produced minimal results, which prompted the researchers to introduce an awareness enhancement device.

Awareness enhancement device produces stunning results within just 1 session

The device used in the experiment was a modified hearing aid with the earpiece worn on the woman’s wrist and the receiver attached to the collar of her shirt. The device would make a sound every time the woman raised her hand to her head to pull out her hair.

The researchers instructed the woman to cross her hands every time she heard the sound. During the first session, she tried to pull out her hair three times. However, every time she heard the sound from the device, she crossed her hands as instructed.

Following those three attempts, she simply stopped trying to pull out her hair, even when wearing the device while it was switched off!

Why this method works and how you can apply it too

The researchers believe this approach might have been effective because “the onset of the tone positively punished placing the left hand near the head, and the termination of the tone negatively reinforced moving the hand away from the head and using the competing response”.

Simply put, the sound was “punishing” the woman for reaching for her hair. When she moved her hand away and crossed her arms, she was being “rewarded” by the sound going away.

This punishment/reward method, coupled with awareness of the presence of the device, conditioned her to stop pulling her hair.

So:

AWARENESS + PUNISHMENT = HABIT BROKEN

This is not the first time these observations have been made. Over the past century, multiple studies have researched a similar approach towards habit-breaking.

It’s called Electrical Aversion Conditioning and uses small electric jolts to the arm to condition participants to stop a specific undesired behavior. It is extremely effective in overcoming compulsive behavior, as well as persistent habits such as nail biting, smoking, alcoholism, overeating, and gambling.

In one clinical study (Lubetkin, Fishman, 1974) it was effectively used to help a chronic heroin user break free of his drug habit. In a follow-up assessment 8 months later, he was found to be still drug free.

So, if you have a habit you want to break, this method could help you do so.

References

Lubetkin, B. S., & Fishman, S. T. (1974, 12). Electrical aversion therapy with a chronic heroin user. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 5(2), 193-195. doi:10.1016/0005-7916(74)90113-X

Rapp, J. T., Miltenberger, R. G., & Long, E. S. (1998, 12). Augmenting simplified habit reversal with an awareness enhancement device: Preliminary findings. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 31(4), 665-668. doi:10.1901/jaba.1998.31-665

 

Institute of Behavior Therapy, New York — Electric jolts used to treat 23-year old graduate student’s 3-year heroin addiction

This study (Lubetkin, Fishman, 1974) focuses on a 23-year old married graduate who, prior to seeking treatment, had been regularly injecting himself with heroin 2-3 times a day, with occasional breaks of up to 7 days. These breaks had so far given him some control over the habit, however his tolerance for the drug was rapidly growing, leading to an increase in dosage and frequency. This in turn started to have a negative effect on his academic pursuits, marriage and life in general.

After the young man volunteered for treatment, he was given the opportunity to participate in a study at the Institute for Behavior Therapy in New York City, where researchers woulds attempt to break his habit via the administration of small electric jolts.

The treatment consisted of having the young man imagine and verbally describe the various stages of his heroin addiction and consumption cycle, from getting the craving for the drug, to buying it, and finally preparing and injecting it.

At random points during this process, the therapist would deliver an uncomfortable electric jolt to the young man’s arm and simultaneously say, “stop”. The patient was asked to continue with his description until he could no longer tolerate the jolts. At that point, he was asked to change his fantasy into one where he is drug-free and enjoying time with his wife and family.

Patient breaks free of 3-year heroin addiction in just 15 sessions — Relationship with wife improves and he goes on to pursue advanced graduate work

Throughout treatment, the young man abstained completely from the drug. After the 15th session, he sniffed a small dose but his experience was not a pleasant one.

Following treatment, his relationship with his wife improved markedly, and he was also given the opportunity to pursue advanced graduate work at another institution, which he accepted.

Additionally, an 8 month follow-up found him completely drug free, despite his 3-year history as a chronic user, and the infamous persistence of the heroin addiction.

Multiple studies over the past century have proven electric jolts effective against a wide array of other habits

Heroin addiction has a very aggressive hold on its victims, subjecting them to deeply distressing psychological after-effects, and intensely painful physical withdrawal symptoms.

Yet, the electric jolts described in the study above, when supplemented with group therapy and marital counselling, helped tear this young man away from a lethal addiction that threatened to ruin his life and eventually destroy it completely.

But this kind of treatment has proven effective in many other scenarios. In fact, multiple studies over the past century have proven that electric jolts can effectively help overcome compulsive behavior, as well as persistent habits such as nail biting, smoking, alcoholism, overeating, and gambling.

References

Lubetkin, B. S., & Fishman, S. T. (1974, 12). Electrical aversion therapy with a chronic heroin user. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 5(2), 193-195. doi:10.1016/0005-7916(74)90113-X