Prevalence of Auditory Verbal Hallucinations in a General Population: A Group Comparison Study

The present study was specifically designed to investigate the prevalence of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) in the general population, and sought to compare similarities and differences regarding socio‐demographics, mental health and severe life events between individuals who have never experienced AVH with those who had. The study also aimed to compare those who sought professional help for their experience of AVH with those who had not sought help. 

Through a postal questionnaire, 2,533 participants ages 18 and over from a national survey completed the Launay‐Slade Hallucinations Scale and other measures examining AVH characteristics and other areas related to AVH. In total, 7.3% of the sample reported a life‐time prevalence of AVH. 

Those with AVH were more likely to be single and unemployed, reported higher levels of depression and anxiety, and experienced a higher number of severe life events compared with those without AVH. Only 16% of those who experienced AVH in the general population sought professional help for these experiences. Compared to those who did not seek professional help, participants that had were more likely to experience AVH with a negative content, experience them on a daily basis, undergo negative reactions when experiencing AVH, and resist AVH. 

In conclusion, the prevalence of AVH was found to be relatively high. The results also revealed higher levels of reduced mental health for individuals who sought professional help, followed by those who did not, compared with those who had never experienced AVH.

BElow:  Gender distribution of voice‐hearers in different age groups

Full article at:   http://goo.gl/BtjrWP

By:  Bodil Kråkvik, 1 , 2 Frank Larøi, 3 , 4 Anne Martha Kalhovde, 5 Kenneth Hugdahl, 4 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 Kristiina Kompus, 4 Øyvind Salvesen, 10 Tore C Stiles, 2 and Einar Vedul‐Kjelsås 11 , 12

¹Nidaros District Psychiatric Center, Department of Research and Development, St. Olavs University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway

²Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

³Department of Psychology: Cognition and Behaviour, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium

⁴Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

⁵Jæren District Psychiatric Center, Bryne, Norway

⁶Division of Psychiatry, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway

⁷Department of Radiology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway

⁸NORMENT Center of Excellence, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

⁹KG Jebsen Center of Neuropsychiatric Disorders, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

¹⁰Unit for Applied Clinical Research, Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

¹¹Department of Research and Development, Division of Psychiatry, St. Olavs University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway

¹²Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

Corresponding author.

^*Bodil Kråkvik, Nidaros District Psychiatric Center, Department of Research and Development, St. Olavs University Hospital, Postbox 1893 Lade,N‐7040 Trondheim, Norway. Tel: +4747359171; fax: +4772865401; e‐mail: on.valots@kivkark.lidob

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Hearing the Unheard: An Interdisciplinary, Mixed Methodology Study of Women’s Experiences of Hearing Voices (Auditory Verbal Hallucinations)

This paper explores the experiences of women who “hear voices” (auditory verbal hallucinations). We begin by examining historical understandings of women hearing voices, showing these have been driven by androcentric theories of how women’s bodies functioned leading to women being viewed as requiring their voices be interpreted by men. 

We show the twentieth century was associated with recognition that the mental violation of women’s minds (represented by some voice-hearing) was often a consequence of the physical violation of women’s bodies. 

We next report the results of a qualitative study into voice-hearing women’s experiences (n = 8). This found similarities between women’s relationships with their voices and their relationships with others and the wider social context. 

Finally, we present results from a quantitative study comparing voice-hearing in women (n = 65) and men (n = 132) in a psychiatric setting. Women were more likely than men to have certain forms of voice-hearing (voices conversing) and to have antecedent events of trauma, physical illness, and relationship problems. Voices identified as female may have more positive affect than male voices. 

We conclude that women voice-hearers have and continue to face specific challenges necessitating research and activism, and hope this paper will act as a stimulus to such work.

Properties of voices.

Variable	Men (n = 132)	Women (n = 65)
Affecta
Positive voice affect	5.78 (4.72)	4.78 (4.57)
Negative voice affect	15.70 (7.80)	16.65 (7.77)
Properties of voice(s)
Form of addressb
First person	24%	36%
Second person	68%	81%
Third person	62%	72%
Does not address	30%	25%
Voices conversinga
Never	49%	31%
Rarely	5%	11%
Sometimes	26%	23%
Often	23%	35%
Interpretation of voices
Voices reflect own thoughts
No	39%	22%
Unsure	8%	5%
Maybe	9%	12%
Yes	44%	62%
Antecedent eventsc
Stress	78%	83%
Friendship/relationship problem	55%	78%
Family problems	54%	64%
Physical illness	15%	38%
Medication/recreational drugs	39%	22%
Major trauma	32%	47%
Divorce	11%	6%
Change job/finance/location	57%	57%
Loneliness	69%	78%
Tiredness	59%	77%
Death of significant other	30%	36%

aMissing data for one male participant.

bMissing data for three male participants and one female participant.

cMissing data for men ranged from 12 to 31 participants, depending on the question, and from 5 to 12 female participants.

Full article at:   http://goo.gl/fUFfsd

By:  Simon McCarthy-Jones,1,2,* Maria Castro Romero,3 Roseline McCarthy-Jones,4 Jacqui Dillon,3 Christine Cooper-Rompato,5 Kathryn Kieran,6 Milissa Kaufman,6,7 and Lisa Blackman8

¹Department of Psychiatry, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

²Department of Cognitive Science, ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and Its Disorders, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia

³School of Psychology, University of East London, London, UK

⁴Independent Scholar, Dublin, Ireland

⁵Department of English, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA

⁶Hill Centre for Women, McLean Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

⁷Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

⁸Department of Media and Communications, Goldsmith’s College, London, UK

Edited by: Gretchen Hermes, Yale University, USA

Reviewed by: Bernhard J. Mitterauer, Volitronics-Institute for Basic Research Psychopathology and Brain Philosophy, Austria; Thomas Whitford, University of New South Wales, Australia

*Correspondence: Simon McCarthy-Jones, Email: moc.liamg@senojyhtraccm.s

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