Subjective Units of  Distress

To work with you own mind in a way that will help you help yourself, the use of SUDS is animportanttool. Weoftendon’tpayattentiontowhatishappeninginourbodyuntil something very intense grabs our attention. If you grew up in a family that dismisses emotionsandtheirexpression,youlearnedtonotpayattentiontothem. Iftheytoldyou, “no you didn’t feel scared you were just pretending in order to get attention”, they have taught you to not trust your interpretation of the body’s sensations that are part of your experiencingofemotion. Thisexerciseisanattempttoteachyouhowtopaymore attentiontoyourbodyanditsfeelingstatesandmoreaccuratelylabelthem. Italsowill help you learn to tolerate unpleasant emotions so you can use emotional information in a morehelpfidway. SUDSstandsforSubjectiveUnitofDistressScale. Youarethe expert and the only one who knows how you feel. To help yourself, you need to learn to check into your own mind and body and ask the question”how uncomfortable do I feel?” Onascaleof0to10yourateyourlevelofdiscomfort. Youransweristhecorrectone. 0 means that you feel no discomfort at all and 10 is the highest level of discomfort you have ever experienced. It is important to do this on a frequent basis during the day and log the information. Below is a simple guide that you can use or you can make one yourself that is more useful.

8:00                     0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10

9:00                     0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10

10:00                   0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10

11:00                    0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10

12:00                   0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10

1:00                     0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10

2:00                    0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10

3:00                    0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10

4:00                    0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10

5:00                    0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10