Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-07T06:26:03.011Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Thought-stopping for Delusions and Hallucinations: A Pilot Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2009

Yves Lamontagne
Affiliation:
Research Unit, Louis H. Lafontaine Hospital, Montreal, Canada
Nicole Audet
Affiliation:
Research Unit, Louis H. Lafontaine Hospital, Montreal, Canada
Robert Elie†
Affiliation:
Research Unit, Louis H. Lafontaine Hospital, Montreal, Canada

Extract

A pilot controlled study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of the thought-stopping technique (T.S.) as a treatment for persecutory delusions and auditory hallucinations with chronic schizophrenics already treated with neuroleptics and to compare this combination with patients only treated with antipsychotic drugs. Medication was standardized for each patient and psychological measurements were recorded before and after treatment and during a 6-month follow-up. Results show significant differences in favor of the T.S. group mainly after treatment. Although T.S. was beneficial for chronic psychotics, other studies should be conducted with patients whose illness would be less severe and less chronic. The length of treatment as well as the cues that would serve to stop delusions and hallucinations also merit further investigation.

Type
Clinical Section
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 1983

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alford, G. S. and Turner, S. M. (1976). Stimulus interference and conditioned inhibition of auditory hallucinations. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry 7, 155160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alumbaugh, R. V. (1971). Use of behavior modification techniques toward reduction of hallucinatory behavior: a case study. Psychological Record 21, 415417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (1980). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 3rd Edit., Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association.Google Scholar
Anderson, L. T. and Alpert, M. (1974). Operant analysis of hallucination frequency in a hospitalized schizophrenic. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry 5, 1318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bucher, B. and Fabricatore, J. (1970). Use of patient-administered shock to suppress hallucinations. Behavior Therapy 1, 382385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, J. R., Wallace, C. J., Liberman, R. P. and Finch, B. G. (1976). The use of brief isolation to suppress delusional and hallucinatory speech. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry 7, 269275.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellsworth, R. (1962). The MACC II Behavioral Adjustment Scale. Beverly Hills, California: Western Psychological Services.Google Scholar
Grove, W. M. and Andreasen, N. C. (1982). Simultaneous tests of many hypotheses in Exploratory Research. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 170(1), 38.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Guy, W. (1976). ECDEU Assessment Manual for Psychopharmacology, Rockville, Maryland: U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.Google Scholar
Haynes, S. N. and Geddy, P. (1973). Suppression of psychotic hallucinations through time-out. Behavior Therapy 4, 123127.Google Scholar
Honigfeld, G. (1973). Nosie-30: history and current status of its use in pharmacopsychiatric research. In Modern Problems in Pharmacopsychiatry: Psychological Measurement, Pichot, P. (Ed.), Basle: Karger.Google Scholar
Honigfeld, G. and Klett, C. (1965). The Nurses' Observation Scale for Inpatient Evaluation (NOSIE): a new scale for measuring improvement in chronic schizophrenics. Journal of Clinical Psychology 21, 6571.Google Scholar
Moser, A. J. (1974). Covert punishment of hallucinatory behavior in a psychotic male. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry 5, 297299.Google Scholar
Nydegger, R. V. (1972). The elimination of hallucinatory and delusional behavior by verbal conditioning and assertive training: a case study. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry 3, 225227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Overall, J. E. (1972). The brief psychiatric rating scale in psychopharmacology research. Psychometric Laboratory Reports No. 29. Galveston: University of Texas.Google Scholar
Overall, J. E. and Gorham, D. R. (1962). The brief psychiatric rating scale. Psychological Reports 10, 799812.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parenteau, P. and Lamontagne, Y. (1981). The thought-stopping technique: a treatment for different types of ruminations. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 26, 192195.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rutner, Y. T. and Bugle, C. (1969). An experimental procedure for the modification of psychotic behavior. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 83, 651653.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Samaan, N. (1975). Thought-stopping and flooding in a case of hallucinations, obsessions and homicidal–suicidal behavior. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry 6, 6567.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolpe, J. (1973). The Practice of Behavior Therapy. New York: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.