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A Pilot Study of Exposure Control of Chronic Auditory Hallucinations in Schizophrenia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Rajendra Persaud  and
Isaac Marks
Rajendra Persaud*
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, London
Isaac Marks
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, London
*
Dr Penaud, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF. Fax: 0181 665 0794
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Extract

Background

Many patients complain less of their auditory hallucinations per se than of lack of control of the experiences. There is reason to believe that a non-distraction (exposure) approach could help patients gain more control over persistent auditory hallucinations and teach them that their experience is a form of thinking and has no external source. This study is a pilot test of that idea.

Method

Five DSM–III–R schizophrenic outpatients with medication-resistant auditory hallucinations improved with a mean of 31 hour-long sessions over 3 months of therapist-guided exposure to their hallucinations and situations likely to evoke them.

Results

Improvement was greatest in patients' anxiety and sense of control over their hallucinations, less in social use of leisure and hallucinating time.

Conclusions

These mildly encouraging pilot results warrant a controlled study of exposure for drug-resistant chronic auditory hallucinations and other psychotic experiences which are associated with anxious avoidance.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 167 , Issue 1 , July 1995 , pp. 45 - 50
Copyright
Copyright © 1995 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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