C. Barreto Carvalho and C. da Motta and J. Pinto-Gouveia and E. B. Peixoto
Hallucinatory Activity in Schizophrenia The Relationship with Childhood Memories, Submissive Behavior, Social Comparison, and Depression
435 - 443
2015
9
5
International Journal of Psychological and Behavioral Sciences
https://publications.waset.org/pdf/10001605
https://publications.waset.org/vol/101
World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
Auditory hallucinations among the most invalidating
and distressing experiences reported by patients diagnosed with
schizophrenia, leading to feelings of powerlessness and helplessness
towards their illness. In more severe cases, these auditory
hallucinations can take the form of commanding voices, which are
often related to high suicidality rates in these patients. Several
authors propose that the meanings attributed to the hallucinatory
experience, rather than characteristics like form and content, can be
determinant in patients’ reactions to hallucinatory activity,
particularly in the case of voicehearing experiences. In this study, 48
patients diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia presenting auditory
hallucinations were studied. Multiple regression analyses were
computed to study the influence of several developmental aspects,
such as family and social dynamics, bullying, depression, and sociocognitive
variables on the auditory hallucinations, on patients’
attributions and relationships with their voices, and on the resulting
invalidation of hallucinatory experience. Overall, results showed how
relationships with voices can mirror several aspects of interpersonal
relationship with others, and how selfschemas, depression and actual
social relationships help shaping the voicehearing experience. Early
experiences of victimization and submission help predict the
attributions of omnipotence of the voices, and increased hostility
from parents seems to increase the malevolence of the voices,
suggesting that sociocognitive factors can significantly contribute to
the etiology and maintenance of auditory hallucinations. The
understanding of the characteristics of auditory hallucinations and the
relationships patients established with their voices can allow the
development of more promising therapeutic interventions that can be
more effective in decreasing invalidation caused by this devastating
mental illness.
Open Science Index 101, 2015