Breaking The Silence: How Self-Compassion Reduces Fear Of Self Disclosure In Women With Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between women with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and their self-compassion and fear of self-disclosure. The study investigated whether self-compassion could act as a protective factor that lessens the emotional avoidance connected to distress disclosure, using the framework of Compassion-Focused Therapy as a foundation.  The study included a sample of 100 women who self-reported having OCD, using a correlational research design. The Self-Compassion Scale–Short Form (SCS-SF) and the Distress Disclosure Index (DDI) were used to gather data.  SPSS was used to perform independent samples t-tests, linear regression, descriptive statistics, and Pearson correlation.  Self-compassion and distress disclosure were found to be statistically significantly positively correlated (r =.318, p =.001), suggesting that women who were more self-compassionate were also more likely to express suffering. Distress disclosure was significantly predicted by self-compassion, according to linear regression analysis, which explained 10.1% of the variation (R2 =.101, p =.001).  Although there was no discernible difference in self-compassion between treatment groups, participants in therapy also reported noticeably higher levels of distress disclosure than those not receiving treatment (p =.010). These results imply that in order to help women with OCD become less emotionally reticent and more open, self-compassion may be crucial. The study emphasizes how beneficial it may be to incorporate self-compassion-focused therapies into therapeutic environments.