By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.
“The mindfulness-based psychoeducation group reported significantly greater improvements in psychiatric symptoms, psychosocial functioning, insight into illness/treatment and duration of readmissions to hospital.” – Wai Chien
Hearing voices (auditory hallucinations) is seen as a prime symptom of psychosis and is considered a first rank symptom of schizophrenia. Neuroimaging has demonstrated that the voices that people hear are experienced as if there were a real person talking to them with the same brain areas becoming active during voice hearing as during listening to actual speech. So, it would appear that voice hearers are actually experiencing voices.
Hearing voices, however, is not always indicative of psychosis. Around 2% – 4% of the population reports hearing voices. But, only about a third of voice hearers are considered psychotic. On the other hand, about two thirds of voice hearers are quite healthy and function well. They cope effectively with the voices they’re hearing, do not receive the diagnosis of psychosis, and do not require psychiatric care. The differences between people with psychoses and healthy people who hear voices, is not in the form but the content of the heard speech. Non-psychotic individuals hear voices both inside and outside their head just like the psychotic patients but either the content is positive or the individual feels positive about the voice or that they are in control of it. By contrast the psychotic patients are frightened of the voices, the voices are more malevolent, and they feel less control over them.
Mindfulness has been shown to be negatively related to the distress felt by the individual about hearing voices, such that the higher the level of mindfulness, the lower the level of distress. But, it has not been demonstrated that increasing mindfulness with training can produce decreases in distress. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has been shown repeatedly to help relieve the symptoms of psychosis. So, it would seem reasonable to test the ability of a mindfulness based form of CBT to relieve the distress produced by hearing voices.
In today’s Research News article “Group mindfulness-based intervention for distressing voices: A pragmatic randomised controlled trial.” See:
or see summary below or view the full text of the study at:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4967452/
Chadwick and colleagues recruited participants who had reported hearing voices at least over the last year. The participants were randomly assigned to receive either treatment as usual or a Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) program administered in a group format, weekly for 1.5 hours over 12 weeks. Before and after therapy and 6 months later the participants were measured for auditory hallucinations, anxiety, depression, and psychological distress. They found that the participants who received MBCT had significantly lower depression levels after treatment and 6 months later. In addition, the therapy produced a significant decrease in the distress felt about hearing voices and the participants perceived ability to control the voices.
These are interesting results that replicate the frequent finding that MBCT is effective in reducing depression. In addition, MBCT did not affect the severity of the voices heard. Rather it changed how people felt about the voices reducing how distressful they were to the individual and how well they felt that they could control them. So, MBCT doesn’t cause the voices to be heard differently, rather it simply helps the individuals to suffer less from the voices they hear. Being in the present moment may allow the voice hearer to feel more in control and to simply hear the voices without associating them with past or future problems making them much less distressful.
So, decrease distress from hearing voices with mindfulness.
“mindfulness with individuals with psychosis can facilitate a decrease in overall symptoms, and can promote a reduction in subjective distress and the believability of symptoms. Mindfulness has also been shown to provide participants with a sense of calm and relaxation, while also instilling a sense of power over their experience. Thus, mindfulness-based treatment interventions may be an effective adjunctive treatment approach for individuals with psychotic illnesses.” – Kolina Delgado
CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies
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Study Summary
Chadwick, P., Strauss, C., Jones, A.-M., Kingdon, D., Ellett, L., Dannahy, L., & Hayward, M. (2016). Group mindfulness-based intervention for distressing voices: A pragmatic randomised controlled trial. Schizophrenia Research, 175(1-3), 168–173. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2016.04.001
Abstract
Group Person-Based Cognitive Therapy (PBCT) integrates cognitive therapy and mindfulness to target distinct sources of distress in psychosis. The present study presents data from the first randomised controlled trial investigating group PBCT in people distressed by hearing voices. One-hundred and eight participants were randomised to receive either group PBCT and Treatment As Usual (TAU) or TAU only. While there was no significant effect on the primary outcome, a measure of general psychological distress, results showed significant between-group post-intervention benefits in voice-related distress, perceived controllability of voices and recovery. Participants in the PBCT group reported significantly lower post-treatment levels of depression, with this effect maintained at six-month follow-up. Findings suggest PBCT delivered over 12 weeks effectively impacts key dimensions of the voice hearing experience, supports meaningful behaviour change, and has lasting effects on mood.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4967452/