What is subjective distress?

Question

What exactly is it, in terms of a psychology context?

Answer 1

A SUDS or a Subjective Units of Disturbance Scale is a scale of 0 to 10 for measuring the intensity of disturbance or distress currently experienced by a patient. The SUDS is used as a benchmark for evaluating the progress of treatment.

There is no hard and fast rule by which a patient can assign a SUDS rating to his or her disturbance or distress, hence the name subjective. Some guidelines are:

The intensity recorded must be as it is experienced now.
Constriction or congestion or tensing of body parts indicates higher SUDS.
The SUD-level was developed bij Joseph Wolpe in 1969. It has been used in EMDR, TFT, EFT, and for research purposes.

Answer 2

The term refers to something that is personally upsetting, but would not normally be upsetting for the average person.

Example: few people find the sight of blueberry muffins particularly upsetting or traumatic. However, if your mother or best friend had choked to death on a blueberry muffin, your reaction may be different.

In comparison, an objectively distressing situation is one where most people would feel distressed. Being fired, losing a loved one, etc.

The problem with the model is that it assumes a base-line 'normal' and then attempts to treat the symptoms relative to that base-line. A more effective solution is to address the emotional trigger or cause directly, which works for any of the situations above.