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

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Behavioral Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• suicide prevention
• suicide behaviors
• suicidal thoughts
• intrusive thoughts
• intrusions
• mental imagery
• assessment
• interventions