Discomfort of obsessive patients confronted with facial expressions of anger and disgust: Results of a preliminary research survey | [Il disagio dei pazienti ossessivi di fronte a espressioni facciali di rabbia e disgusto: Risultati di una indagine preliminare]

We present the results of a preliminary research survey aimed at monitoring two hypotheses in this article: the first hypothesis assumed that obsessive patients choose more frequently expressions of anger and disgust such as expressions able to make them feel most uncomfortable compared to patients suffering from other anxiety disorders. The second hypothesis assumed that obsessive patients, more frequently than other anxious patients, imagine that they would be faced with an expression of anger or disgust if their worst fears were to come true. 16 obsessive patients and 22 anxious but not obsessive patients took part in the study. The subjects were shown two sets of photographs taken from Ekman's collection (1976): one set included photographs of a female face, (always the same face), which expressed anger, fear, sadness, disgust, joy, surprise and emotional neutrality. The other set showed a male face that expressed the same emotions. The test subjects were invited to imagine that the expressions were addressed to them, in other words, that they were the object of the facial expression. The subjects were asked to indicate the two photographs which made them feel most uncomfortable in each series. The subjects were then invited to imagine the realization of the fears underlying their symptoms and were then asked if, in the imagined scenario, they would have been the object of one of the expressions depicted in the photographs. The results were compatible with the hypotheses presented.