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The auditory hallucination: a phenomenological survey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Tony H. Nayani  and
Anthony S. David
Tony H. Nayani
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine and Neuropsychiatry, King's College Hospital and the Institute of Psychiatry, London
Anthony S. David*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine and Neuropsychiatry, King's College Hospital and the Institute of Psychiatry, London
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr A. S. David, Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AF.
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Synopsis

A comprehensive semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 100 psychotic patients who had experienced auditory hallucinations. The aim was to extend the phenomenology of the hallucination into areas of both form and content and also to guide future theoretical development. All subjects heard ‘voices’ talking to or about them. The location of the voice, its characteristics and the nature of address were described. Precipitants and alleviating factors plus the effect of the hallucinations on the sufferer were identified. Other hallucinatory experiences, thought insertion and insight were examined for their inter-relationships. A pattern emerged of increasing complexity of the auditory–verbal hallucination over time by a process of accretion, with the addition of more voices and extended dialogues, and more intimacy between subject and voice. Such evolution seemed to relate to the lessening of distress and improved coping. These findings should inform both neurological and cognitive accounts of the pathogenesis of auditory hallucinations in psychotic disorders.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 26 , Issue 1 , January 1996 , pp. 177 - 189
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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