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Clean Epilepsy versus Dirty Epilepsy!!!
Sat, 10/10/2009 - 05:55Clean Epilepsy versus Dirty Epilepsy!!!
Trying to take the slogans out of the ACT protocol is difficult. If the slogans are removed, or can't be translated into valid scientific statements, does anything remain to the protocol beyond a "feel good" sensation observation of an AA meeting?
I'm exploring this with "The Contribution of the Acceptance and Commitment Theraphy Coupled With Behavior Technology in Seizure Control," from the book "Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Contemporary Theory Research and Practice" by J. T. Blackledge, Frank Deane, Joseph Ciarrochi, Australian Academic Press (May 08, 2009), around page 141. (pages 130 - 149) Chapter 5(p.119), ACT and Health Conditions, JoAnne C. Dahl.
"Whereas clean epilepsy is the tendency to seize when conditioned thoughts and reactions occur, dirty epilepsy involves the struggle against everything conditioned to epilepsy." Add the notion of Motivation to this, is science necessarily out the window, or can it be rescued and effectively be used with many instances of epilepsy? Will, or can, careful and strict Skinnerian Behaviourism work better with epilepsy conditioning? I'm tempted to dust off my books, bells, whistles, boxes, wires, and recorders and try yet again. Maybe being a true believer in Motivation is what is required nevertheless.
Tadzio
Re: Clean Epilepsy versus Dirty Epilepsy!!!
Submitted by 3Hours2Live on Sun, 2009-10-11 - 06:33
I'm Still looking for other sources for the concepts in Clean versus Dirty Epilepsy, but all references return to JoAnne Dahl and/or Tobias Lundgren, Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala Sweden. From "Behavior analysis of epilepsy: conditioning mechanisms, behavior technology and the contribution of ACT," by JoAnne Dahl and Tobias Lundgren: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/2388271/Behavior-analysis-of-epilepsy-conditioning-mechanisms-behavior P. 11: "The terms clean and dirty epilepsy are used. Whereas clean epilepsy is the tendency to seize when conditioned thoughts and reactions occur, dirty epilepsy would be the entire struggle against everything conditioned to epilepsy. Preventing, avoiding, or interrupting the seizures itself is a skillful and desirable thing to do but avoiding everything associated with epilepsy is not. The first may save your life and the second may handicap you for life. Learning how to control seizures is a life skill and makes having a seizure a choice. Fighting against yourself is a war where you lose. Learning how to accept the risk of having seizures and live life fully together with that risk is also a life skill." P. 12: "Sessions two and three took place in-group sessions consisting of 6-8 individuals during a 3-hour period. The aim of the group sessions was to help the participants to understand, experience and practice the concepts of taking steps in valued directions together with obstacles, seeing thoughts as thoughts and not truths, exposure to fears and experiencing the difference between clean and dirty epilepsy, learning and practicing seizure control strategies and making public commitments towards creating the vital life of their choosing. The principle used in each group session was that each point that was taken up was dramatized in role-play so that participants understood with their intellect but also experienced through practice. The group practiced doing functional analyses on each other's seizures and brainstormed possible seizure interruption methods." pp. 12-13: "Overall the ACT intervention produced a greater than 90% reduction in total amount of time in seizures from baseline to the one year follow-up." Is this great success easily reproduced? From Epilepsia, 47(12):2173-2179,2006: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/118725951/PDFSTART Can learning a life skill make having a seizure with epilepsy a choice? Tadzio