Abstract
The relationship between hallucinations and life events is a topic of significant clinical importance. This review discusses the extent to which auditory and visual hallucinations may be directly related to traumatic events. Evidence suggests that intrusive images occur frequently within individuals who also report hallucinatory experiences. However, there has been limited research specifically investigating the extent to which hallucinations are the re-experiencing of a traumatic event. Our current theoretical understanding of these relationships, along with methodological difficulties associated with research in this area, are considered. Recent clinical studies, which adopt interventions aimed at the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder in people diagnosed with a psychotic disorder, are reviewed. There is a need for the development of evidence-based interventions in this area.
Highlights
The idea that stressful and traumatic life events may be relevant to the content of hallucinatory experiences is not a new one. Freud (1936) argued that the phenomenon of hallucinations was a product of forgotten or repressed traumatic memories entering the conscious mind
There has been increased awareness of the prevalence of traumatic life events within individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia
Hearing voices/seeing visions may be both a hallucination, in terms of the diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia, and categorized as the re-experiencing of a traumatic event with respect to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). At this point it is worth noting that the hallmark symptom of PTSD is considered an intrusive memory of a traumatic event, most likely in the form of a visual image
Summary
Reviewed by: Mahesh Menon, University of British Columbia, Canada Kathryn Greenwood, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation. The relationship between hallucinations and life events is a topic of significant clinical importance. This review discusses the extent to which auditory and visual hallucinations may be directly related to traumatic events. Evidence suggests that intrusive images occur frequently within individuals who report hallucinatory experiences. There has been limited research investigating the extent to which hallucinations are the re-experiencing of a traumatic event. Our current theoretical understanding of these relationships, along with methodological difficulties associated with research in this area, are considered. Recent clinical studies, which adopt interventions aimed at the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder in people diagnosed with a psychotic disorder, are reviewed. There is a need for the development of evidence-based interventions in this area
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