Intrusive Thoughts, Mental Imagery, and Rumination: Shared Cognitive Vulnerabilities Across Disorders and Implications for Suicide Risk

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue, titled “Intrusive Thoughts, Mental Imagery, and Rumination: Shared Cognitive Vulnerabilities Across Disorders and Implications for Suicide Risk.”

Intrusive thoughts, mental imagery, and ruminative processes are increasingly recognized as core cognitive phenomena that cut across a wide range of mental health conditions, including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorders, non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), and suicidality. These phenomena often take the form of vivid, distressing and repetitive mental content, whether verbal or imagery-based, that can powerfully influence emotional states, behavior, and clinical outcomes.

A growing body of research continues to shine a light on the role of mental imagery in suicidal ideation, which may, on account of the emotional intensity and perceived realism of these images, increase the likelihood of suicidal behaviors. Similar mechanisms may be responsible for other forms of maladaptive behavior and symptom maintenance, such as compulsions, avoidance, or self-harm. For example, intrusive mental imagery may contribute to heightened emotional reactivity in PTSD or play a role in the urge-driven nature of NSSI. Further, mental imagery may be related to, or interact with, other cognitive processes, such as rumination, autobiographical memory, attentional dysregulation, and inhibitory control, to exacerbate distress and contribute to maladaptive behaviors, including those related to self-injurious behaviors.

Thus, this Special Issue seeks to advance our understanding of suicide risk by examining the cognitive, emotional, and neurobiological processes underlying intrusive thoughts and mental imagery across mental disorders. We aim to promote cross-disciplinary insight into the mechanisms underlying various mental disorders by identifying shared and distinct pathways involving intrusive thoughts, mental imagery, or ruminative processes, and to explore their implications for assessment, conceptualization, and intervention.

We welcome empirical studies, theoretical reviews, and clinical perspectives that address topics including, but not limited to, the following:

• The cognitive, affective, and neurobiological mechanisms by which intrusive thoughts, mental imagery, and ruminative processes contribute to psychological distress and maladaptive or risk-related behaviors across multiple disorders, with an emphasis on the implications for suicide risk.
• Transdiagnostic frameworks that conceptualize intrusive cognitions and imagery as factors shared across multiple mental disorders.
• Experimental and longitudinal studies investigating the impact of intrusive thoughts and mental imagery on symptom trajectories, emotional dysregulation, and behavioral outcomes such as suicide risk.
• Novel intervention strategies targeting intrusive thoughts and mental imagery to mitigate suicide risk and related disorders.
• Advances in the measurement and assessment of mental imagery and intrusive cognitions across various diagnostic and clinical settings.

We look forward to receiving your submissions and to collectively advancing research into this critical area of mental health.

Dr. Jaël S. van Bentum
Dr. Sarah Brown
Guest Editors

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