The Revolting Self

Paul G. Overton, PhD, is Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Sheffield, UK, and is currently the head of the Department of Psychology. The majority of his research focuses on the basal ganglia, a group of structures involved in action selection, cognition and emotion. Although historically his work has been conducted using infrahuman species, his recent work has moved to include human subjects, particularly in relation to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Parkinson's disease and disgust. Philip A. Powell is a research psychologist with an interest in discrete emotions and their unique effects on our psychological well-being, behaviour, and decision-making. He completed his PhD in 2013 on the topic of self-disgust and its link to depression. Philip is currently appointed as a postdoctoral Research Associate in the Institute for the Economic Analysis of Decision-Making (InstEAD) at the University of Sheffield, UK, and is an associate member of the International Society for Research on Emotion (ISRE). Jane Simpson, PhD, is a clinical and academic psychologist and has been Research Director on the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Lancaster for the past seven years. A major focus of her research is the relationship between emotions and cognitions, and the international move to see emotions as a major driver in influencing both mental health difficulties and response to therapy is one she fully supports.

Foreword -- Preface -- An introduction to the revolting self: self-disgust as an emotion schema -- Digging disgust out of the dumpster: a neuropsychological defence of self-and other-directed disgust as a moral virtue -- Disgust and self-disgust: a disability studies perspective -- Self-disgust and adaptation to chronic physical health conditions: implications for avoidance and withdrawal -- Self-directed disgust: reciprocal relationships with sex and sexual dysfunction -- Disgust and interpersonal experiences: the complex emotional experience of rejection -- Contaminated by trauma: understanding links between self-disgust, mental contamination, and post-traumatic stress disorder -- Depression as a disorder of disgust -- Self-disgust in eating disorders: a review of the literature and clinical implications -- Varieties of disgust in self-harm -- Psychodynamics of self-disgust: expulsion and attack as attempts to retain integrity of the personality -- Self-disgust, self-hatred, and compassion-focused therapy -- Reflections on the revolting self: a commentary and further directions