Abstract
This study examines the interconnectedness between absorption, inner speech, self, and psychopathology. Absorption involves an intense focus and immersion in mental imagery, sensory/perceptual stimuli, or vivid imagination that involves decreased self-awareness and alterations in consciousness. In psychosis, the dissolution and permeability in the demarcation between self and one's sensory experiences and perceptions, and also between self-other and/or inter-object boundaries alter one's sense of self. Thus, as the individual integrates these changes new “meaning making” or understanding evolves as part of an ongoing inner dialogue and dialogue with others. This study consisted of 117 participants: 81 participants with psychosis and 36 controls. We first conducted a bivariate correlation to elucidate the relationship between absorption and inner speech. We next conducted hierarchical multiple regressions to examine the effect of absorption and inner speech to predict psychopathology. Lastly, we conducted a network analysis and applied extended Bayesian Information Criterion to select the best model. We showed that in both the control and psychosis group dialogic and emotional/motivational types of inner speech were strongly associated with absorption subscales, apart from the aesthetic subscale in the control group which was not significant, while in psychosis, condensed inner speech was uniquely associated with increased imaginative involvement. In psychosis, we also demonstrated that altered consciousness, dialogic, and emotional/motivational inner speech all predicted positive symptoms. In terms of network associations, imaginative involvement was the most central, influential, and most highly predictive node in the model from which all other nodes related to inner speech and psychopathology are connected. This study shows a strong interrelatedness between absorption, inner speech and psychosis thus identifying potentially fertile ground for future research and directions, particularly in the exploration into the underlying construct of imaginative involvement in psychotic symptoms.
Highlights
The interior world is a dynamic and complex source of sensory and perceptual experiences in which the individual constructs and deconstructs the ontological dimensions of self and environment
We investigated the following questions: [1] What is the relationship between absorption and inner speech in participants with present-state psychosis compared to a non-clinical control group?
This study examined the relationship between absorption, inner speech, and psychopathology
Summary
The interior world is a dynamic and complex source of sensory and perceptual experiences in which the individual constructs and deconstructs the ontological dimensions of self and environment. The primary dimensions of psychosis include the positive symptom dimension of hallucinations, delusions, formal thought disorder; the negative symptom dimension of affect flattening, avolition, and alogia; and the cognitive dimension of disorganization, abstract thinking and attention [36,37,38] These heterogeneities in psychotic experience and dimensions (e.g., a manic psychotic experience being often markedly different in its phenomenology from a “bizarre delusional state” or traumatogenic voices) are critical to understanding associations between absorption, inner speech and psychosis –almost certainly they interact with (again just for example) a heightened manic-grandiose state in a different way from what would otherwise happen with bizarre delusions which is yet again different from ongoing traumarelated voices or intrusions.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.