OBJECTIVES: Visual hallucinations (visions) in people with psychosis are common and often distressing. Cognitive theory emphasises a central role of appraisals in determining distress. We explored how people made sense of their visions to inform the development of targeted cognitive treatments for visions. DESIGN: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 participants with psychosis...
Depersonalization (DP) and derealization (DR) are phenomena involving alterations in sense of self and lifeworld. These phenomena often co-occur in psychosis, suggesting dimensional psychopathology and complex phenomenological alterations in consciousness, embodiment, and meaning-making. The primary aim of this study was to examine phenomenological associations, dynamics, and diagnostic...
Delusions in psychosis involve complex and dynamic experiential, affective, cognitive, behavioural, and interpersonal alterations. Their pattern of emergence during the early stages of illness remains poorly understood and the origin of their thematic content unclear. Phenomenological accounts have emphasised alterations of selfhood and reality experience in delusion formation but have not...
One in three people with psychosis experience visions. However, little is known about what people see, and current treatments have limited benefits. To improve the understanding and treatment of visions, this study explored the phenomenology of visions in people with psychosis. Twelve people with psychosis participated in semi-structured interviews. Reflective thematic analysis was used. Three...
BACKGROUND: Suicide is one of the major causes of premature death in patients diagnosed with a schizophrenia-spectrum psychotic disorder. However, associations between psychotic-like experiences in youth and suicidality in later life remain under-researched. AIMS: We aimed to investigate any associations between early experiences of thought interference and auditory-verbal hallucinations (AVHs)...
In trying to make sense of the extensive phenomenological variation of first-personal reports on auditory verbal hallucinations, the concept of pseudohallucination is originally introduced to designate any hallucinatory-like phenomena not exhibiting some of the paradigmatic features of "genuine" hallucinations. After its introduction, Karl Jaspers locates the notion of pseudohallucinations into...
BACKGROUND Delusions are a common transdiagnostic feature of psychotic disorders, and their treatment remains suboptimal. Despite the pressing need to better understand the nature, meaning, and course of these symptoms, research into the lived experience of delusional phenomena in psychosis is scarce. Thus, we aimed to explore the lived experience and subjective apprehension of delusions in...
Introduction: Hallucinations research is increasingly incorporating philosophy or the work of philosophically trained individuals. We present three different ways in which this is successfully implemented to the enhancement of knowledge and understanding of hallucinations and related phenomena.Method: We review contributions from phenomenology, philosophy of cognitive science, and philosophy of...
This study examines the interconnectedness between absorption, inner speech, self, and psychopathology. Absorption involves an intense focus and immersion in mental imagery, sensory/perceptual stimuli, or vivid imagination that involves decreased self-awareness and alterations in consciousness. In psychosis, the dissolution and permeability in the demarcation between self and one's sensory...
Background: Depersonalization and derealization are currently considered diagnostically distinct from first-rank symptoms (FRS) seen in schizophrenia-spectrum psychoses. Nevertheless, the lived experiences of these symptoms can be very similar phenomenologically. Aims: To investigate the interrelationships between depersonalization, derealization and FRS in patients with different types of...
Recent psychiatric research and treatment initiatives have tended to move away from traditional diagnostic categories and have focused instead on transdiagnostic phenomena, such as hallucinations. However, this emphasis on isolated experiences may artificially limit the definition of such phenomena and ignore the rich, complex, and dynamic changes occurring simultaneously in other domains of...
Abstract Schizophrenia as a pathology of self-awareness has attracted much attention from philosophical theorists and empirical scientists alike. I view schizophrenia as a basic self-disturbance leading to a lifeworld of solipsism adopted by the sufferer and explain how this adoption takes place, which then manifests in ways such as first-rank psychotic symptoms. I then discuss the...
Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) are complex experiences that occur in the context of various clinical disorders. AVH also occur in individuals from the general population who have no identifiable psychiatric or neurological diagnoses. This article reviews research on AVH in nonclinical individuals and provides a cross-disciplinary view of the clinical relevance of these experiences in...
Despite the recent proliferation of scientific, clinical, and narrative accounts of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs), the phenomenology of voice hearing remains opaque and undertheorized. In this article, we outline an interdisciplinary approach to understanding hallucinatory experiences which seeks to demonstrate the value of the humanities and social sciences to advancing knowledge in...