Alien voices and inner dialogue: towards a developmental account of auditory verbal hallucinations

2004 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Fernyhough
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Verbal Hallucinations ◽  
Inner Dialogue

Voices of Anxiety

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Ratcliffe
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Perceptual Experience ◽  
Social World ◽  
The Other ◽  
Detailed Account ◽  
Inner Speech ◽  
Auditory Verbal Hallucinations ◽  
The Social ◽  
Inner Dialogue

This chapter develops a detailed account of what auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) consist of and how they arise. It focuses, to begin with, on those that involve a quasi-perceptual experience of ‘inner speech’ or ‘inner dialogue’. Such experiences are often preceded by heightened social anxiety, and it is argued that anxious anticipation of one’s own thought contents as they arise can constitute an experience of thought content as ‘alien’. This approach is then broadened to accommodate not only inner dialogue but also imagination and memory. The chapter further proposes that other kinds of AVH, which are experienced as external in origin and more akin to veridical auditory experiences, can likewise be accounted for in terms of anxious anticipation, but that they come about in a different way. It is also made clear how AVHs can fall somewhere in between the ‘internal, non-auditory’ and ‘external, auditory poles’, rather than fitting neatly into one or the other category. The chapter concludes by noting that AVHs tend to be associated with wider-ranging disturbances in a person’s relationship with the social world, which are often preceded by unpleasant interpersonal circumstances.

Auditory Verbal Hallucinations – Breaking the Silence of Inner Dialogue

2003 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 120-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Stanghellini ◽  
John Cutting
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Verbal Hallucinations ◽  
Inner Dialogue

scholarly journals Confusions about ‘Inner’ and ‘Outer’ Voices: Conceptual Problems in the Study of Auditory Verbal Hallucinations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franz Knappik ◽  
Josef J. Bless ◽  
Frank Larøi
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Clinical Assessment ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Diagnostic Value ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Auditory Verbal Hallucinations ◽  
Early Twentieth Century ◽  
Conceptual Problems ◽  
The Mind

AbstractBoth in research on Auditory Verbal Hallucinations (AVHs) and in their clinical assessment, it is common to distinguish between voices that are experienced as ‘inner’ (or ‘internal’, ‘inside the head’, ‘inside the mind’, ...) and voices that are experienced as ‘outer’ (‘external’, ‘outside the head’, ‘outside the mind’, ...). This inner/outer-contrast is treated not only as an important phenomenological variable of AVHs, it is also often seen as having diagnostic value. In this article, we argue that the distinction between ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ voices is ambiguous between different readings, and that lack of disambiguation in this regard has led to flaws in assessment tools, diagnostic debates and empirical studies. Such flaws, we argue furthermore, are often linked to misreadings of inner/outer-terminology in relevant 19th and early twentieth century work on AVHs, in particular, in connection with Kandinsky’s and Jaspers’s distinction between hallucinations and pseudo-hallucinations.

Grey matter microstructural alterations in schizophrenia patients with treatment-resistant auditory verbal hallucinations

2021 ◽  
Vol 138 ◽  
pp. 130-138
Author(s):  
Frederic Sampedro ◽  
Alexandra Roldán ◽  
Anna Alonso-Solís ◽  
Eva Grasa ◽  
Maria J. Portella ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Grey Matter ◽  
Treatment Resistant ◽  
Auditory Verbal Hallucinations ◽  
Microstructural Alterations

scholarly journals One-year randomized trial comparing virtual reality-assisted therapy to cognitive–behavioral therapy for patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Dellazizzo ◽  
Stéphane Potvin ◽  
Kingsada Phraxayavong ◽  
Alexandre Dumais
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy ◽  
Psychiatric Symptoms ◽  
Behavioral Therapy ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Comparative Trial ◽  
Cognitive Behavioral ◽  
Treatment Resistant ◽  
Auditory Verbal Hallucinations

AbstractThe gold-standard cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT) for psychosis offers at best modest effects. With advances in technology, virtual reality (VR) therapies for auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH), such as AVATAR therapy (AT) and VR-assisted therapy (VRT), are amid a new wave of relational approaches that may heighten effects. Prior trials have shown greater effects of these therapies on AVH up to a 24-week follow-up. However, no trial has compared them to a recommended active treatment with a 1-year follow-up. We performed a pilot randomized comparative trial evaluating the short- and long-term efficacy of VRT over CBT for patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Patients were randomized to VRT (n = 37) or CBT (n = 37). Clinical assessments were administered before and after each intervention and at follow-up periods up to 12 months. Between and within-group changes in psychiatric symptoms were assessed using linear mixed-effects models. Short-term findings showed that both interventions produced significant improvements in AVH severity and depressive symptoms. Although results did not show a statistically significant superiority of VRT over CBT for AVH, VRT did achieve larger effects particularly on overall AVH (d = 1.080 for VRT and d = 0.555 for CBT). Furthermore, results suggested a superiority of VRT over CBT on affective symptoms. VRT also showed significant results on persecutory beliefs and quality of life. Effects were maintained up to the 1-year follow-up. VRT highlights the future of patient-tailored approaches that may show benefits over generic CBT for voices. A fully powered single-blind randomized controlled trial comparing VRT to CBT is underway.

The perceived salience of vocal emotions is dampened in non-clinical auditory verbal hallucinations

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Maria Amorim ◽  
Magda S. Roberto ◽  
Sonja A. Kotz ◽  
Ana P. Pinheiro
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Verbal Hallucinations

scholarly journals Hearing spiritually significant voices: A phenomenological survey and taxonomy

2020 ◽  
pp. medhum-2020-012021
Author(s):  
Christopher C H Cook ◽  
Adam Powell ◽  
Ben Alderson-Day ◽  
Angela Woods
Keyword(s):  
Medical Humanities ◽  
Adult Life ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Religious Experiences ◽  
Pastoral Work ◽  
Auditory Verbal Hallucinations ◽  
Single Voice ◽  
The Voice

Whereas previous research in the medical humanities has tended to neglect theology and religious studies, these disciplines sometimes have a very important contribution to make. The hearing of spiritually significant voices provides a case in point. The context, content and identity of these voices, all of which have typically not been seen as important in the assessment of auditory–verbal hallucinations (AVHs) within psychiatry, are key to understanding their spiritual significance. A taxonomy of spiritually significant voices is proposed, which takes into account frequency, context, affect and identity of the voice. In a predominantly Christian sample of 58 people who reported having heard spiritually significant voices, most began in adult life and were infrequent experiences. Almost 90% reported that the voice was divine in identity and approximately one-third were heard in the context of prayer. The phenomenological characteristics of these voices were different from those in previous studies of voice hearing (AVHs). Most comprised a single voice; half were auditory; and a quarter were more thought-like (the rest being a mixture). Only half were characterful, and one-third included commands or prompts. The voices were experienced positively and as meaningful. The survey has implications for both clinical and pastoral work. The phenomenology of spiritually significant voices may be confused with that of psychopathology, thus potentially leading to misdiagnosis of normal religious experiences. The finding of meaning in content and context may be important in voice hearing more widely, and especially in coping with negative or distressing voices.

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