Evidence for a Specific Link Between the Personality Trait of Absorption and Idiopathic Environmental Intolerance

Abstract

Absorption as a personality trait refers to the predisposition to get deeply immersed in sensory (e.g., smells, sounds, pictures) or mystical experiences, that is, to experience altered states of consciousness. Absorption is markedly related to constructs openness to experiences, hypnotic suggestibility, imagination, and dissociation. Although absorption was hypothesized to be a risk factor for medically unexplained symptoms (MUS), the construct has yet not been investigated in individually suffering from idiopathic environmental intolerance (IEI), formerly better known as multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS). IEI is a complex condition marked by MUS, which patients attribute to various chemical substances that are typically detectable by their odor (e.g., exhaust emissions, cigarette smoke). The current study investigated whether IEI was related to the personality trait of absorption. In a longitudinal study, 54 subjects with IEI were compared to 44 subjects with a somatoform disorder (SFD), but without IEI, and 54 subjects with neither SFD nor IEI (control group, CG). Self-report measures of somatic symptoms, severity of IEI, and level of absorption were collected both at a first examination and 32 mo later. On both assessments, subjects with IEI and individuals with SFD reported similar highly elevated levels of MUS, compared to CG. In contrast to SFD, IEI was specifically related to elevated absorption scores. IEI was specifically associated with a tendency to experience self-altering states of consciousness. Since absorption is related to both openness to unusual experiences and elevated imaginative involvement, absorption might contribute to IEI via two routes by (1) enhancing the susceptibility for IEI-specific convictions and (2) fostering classical conditioning processes of MUS via enhanced cognitive-imaginative representations of assumed IEI triggers.

Magical Thinking in Somatoform Disorders: An Exploratory Study among Patients with Suspected Allergies

“…There are sporadic reports on high absorption (a personality trait predisposing to the deep immersion in sensory or mystical experiences) in patients with multiple chemical sensitivities, high hypnotizability/(hypnotic) suggestibility in patients with nonepileptic seizures, conversion disorder, and chronic fatigue syndrome [45,46,47,48]. Brown et al [49] studied suggestibility in a small group of patients with somatization disorder, finding scores comparable to those of patients with dystonia.…”

Submersion in the experience: The examination of the Tellegen Absorption Scale in an undergraduate university sample

“…Mivel az abszorpció a szuggesztibilitással, az imaginációs készséggel és a disszociáció jelenségével is kapcsolatban áll (Witthöft, Rist, & Bailer, 2008), felmerült a tünetképzéssel való kapcsolat lehetôsége is. Az abszorpcióban levô személy az ôt érô külsô-belsô ingerek jelentôs részét kizárja, miközben a figyelme központjában levô ingereket jelentôs mértékben felerôsíti -mindez a tünetképzés kontextusában nagyfokú hasonlóságot mutat a szomato szenzoros amplifikáció, illetve a katasztrofizálás konstruktumaival is (Kulcsár, 2004).…”

Attention to bodily sensations and symptom perception in individuals with idiopathic environmental intolerance

“…It has been suggested that IEI is best classified as a functional somatic disorder [13,14], partly because several studies have reported associations between IEI and psychological traits often connected with such disorders [14][15][16]. Increased rates of psychiatric co-morbidity is frequently reported, often in terms of major depression, somatoform disorders, anxiety or panic disorder [17].…”