A comprehensive review of auditory verbal hallucinations: lifetime prevalence, correlates and mechanisms in healthy and clinical individuals.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience January 1, 2013 Saskia De Leede-Smith, Emma Barkus
Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) occur across the lifespan in both clinical and non-clinical populations, and recent research indicates they are not necessarily a sign of psychosis. In children, need for care depends on negative beliefs and appraisals about the voices, a pattern that persists into adulthood. Non-clinical voice hearers typically experience negative impact only if they have negative experiences related to the voice, such as negative content, frequency, emotional valence, anxiety, or depression. Maladaptive coping strategies in patient populations distinguish clinical from non-clinical groups and are linked to need for care. Whether the underlying mechanisms start the same and diverge remains unknown.