The Phenomenology of Visual and Other Nonauditory Hallucinations in Affective and Nonaffective Psychosis: A Mixed Methods Analysis.
Wei Lin Toh, Neil Thomas, Susan Lee Rossell
The Journal of nervous and mental disease April 1, 2024 DOI: 10.1097/nmd.0000000000001750 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractVisual hallucinations in people with psychosis typically occur daily, last a few minutes, appear directly in the line of sight, and most often involve seeing persons or animals. These hallucinations are difficult to control and usually cause negative emotions. Among participants who also experienced voice-hearing, 46.8% reported tactile hallucinations and 39.0% reported olfactory hallucinations. Those with affective psychosis were more aware of their hallucinations and had less functional impairment than those with nonaffective psychosis. The study describes common themes across these hallucination types and calls for more research on less-studied hallucination modalities.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Mixed methods study Qualitative Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 75 |
| Population | Adults with affective and nonaffective psychosis who experience voice-hearing and endorse visual, tactile, or olfactory hallucinations |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key finding | Visual hallucinations in psychosis are frequent, brief, and typically involve persons or animals with low controllability and negative affect; tactile and olfactory hallucinations are also common, and those with affective psychosis show greater awareness and less functional impairment than those with nonaffective psychosis. |
Abstract
Nonauditory hallucinations in psychosis have not received as much attention relative to voice-hearing experiences. The current paper aimed to document the characteristics of these hallucinations in affective and nonaffective psychosis. Participants were selected from a primary voice-hearing sample, who had endorsed visual, tactile, or olfactory hallucinations ( N = 55-75). A comprehensive, semistructured phenomenological interview was conducted, followed by mixed methods analysis. Visual hallucinations typically occurred daily, for a few minutes per episode, within one's direct line of sight; persons and/or animals were most commonly seen, with low controllability and mostly engendered negative affective outcomes. Tactile and olfactory hallucinations were endorsed by 46.8% and 39.0% of participants, respectively. The affective psychosis group ( n = 33) reported significantly greater awareness and lower functional impairment relative to the nonaffective psychosis group ( n = 42). Qualitative thematic analysis revealed notable themes and subthemes across each of these hallucinations modes. Further phenomenological investigations should be carried out in lesser known hallucination modalities, assisted by the development of appropriate assessment tools.