Unpredictable and uncontrollable events: a new perspective on experimental neurosis.

Recent work has shown that unpredictable and/or uncontrollable events can produce a variety of cognitive, affective, and somatic disturbances to the organism. These disturbances are compared to and found to be quite similar to the symptoms of the classic cases of experimental neurosis described by Pavlov, Gantt, Liddell, Masserman, and Wolpe. The hypothesis is then developed that the common thread running through the entire experimental neurosis literature is that in each case important life events become unpredictable or uncontrollable, or both. This interpretation is contrasted with the earlier physiological, psychodynamic, and behavioral interpretations made by the investigators themselves. The implications of this analysis of experimental neurosis for various issues in the predictability-controllability literature are discussed—for example, the interaction between unpredictability and uncontrollability, the "threshold" for response to lack of predictability or controllability, and the lack versus the loss of predictability and controllability. Finally, the possible clinical relevance of this new perspective on experimental neurosis is discussed.

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