Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T02:54:48.208Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Coping with Hearing Voices: An Emancipatory Approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

M. A. J. Romme*
Affiliation:
University of Limburg
A. Honig
Affiliation:
Community Mental Health Center, Maastricht, Lecturer, Department of Social Psychiatry, University of Limburg
E. O. Noorthoorn
Affiliation:
Department of Social Psychiatry, University of Limburg
A. D. M. A. C. Escher
Affiliation:
Community Mental Health Center, Maastricht, The Netherlands
*
Rijksuniversiteit Limburg, Vakgroep Sociale Psychiatrie Postbus 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands

Abstract

A questionnaire comprising 30 open-ended questions was sent to 450 people with chronic hallucinations of hearing voices who had responded to a request on television. Of the 254 replies, 186 could be used for analysis. It was doubtful whether 13 of these respondents were experiencing true hallucinations. Of the remaining 173 subjects, 115 reported an inability to cope with the voices. Ninety-seven respondents were in psychiatric care, and copers were significantly less often in psychiatric care (24%) than non-copers (49%). Four coping strategies were apparent: distraction, ignoring the voices, selective listening to them, and setting limits on their influence.

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © 1992 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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

Falloon, I. R. H. & Talbot, R. E. (1981) Persistent auditory hallucinations: coping mechanics and implications for management. Psychological Medicine, 11, 329339.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaplan, H. I. & Sadock, B. J. V. (eds) (1985) Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry (4th edn). Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins.Google Scholar
Langelaan, M. (1987) Correlation Foundation hears more than 700 voices. Maandblad Geestelijke Volksgezondheid, 718, 822828.Google Scholar
McInnis, M. & Marks, I. (1990) Audiotape therapy for persistent auditory hallucinations. British Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 913914.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Romme, M. A. J. & Escher, A. D. M. A. C. (1989) Hearing voices. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 15, 209216.Google Scholar
Strauss, J. S. (1989) Subjective experiences of schizophrenia: towards a new dynamic psychiatry II. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 15, 179187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wing, J. K., Cooper, J. E. & Sartorius, N. (1974) The Measurement and Classification of Psychiatric Symptoms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.