Varieties of felt presence? Three surveys of presence phenomena and their relations to psychopathology.
Ben Alderson-day, Peter Moseley, Kaja Mitrenga, Jamie Moffatt, Rebecca Lee, John Foxwell, Jacqueline Hayes, David Smailes, Charles Fernyhough
Psychological medicine June 1, 2023 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1017/s0033291722000344 via PubMed
Summary
Felt presence (FP) experiences are linked to hallucinations and vary across different contexts, including psychosis and spiritual beliefs. A study analyzed FP through three online surveys involving 206 participants total: 75 with psychosis, 47 with spiritual beliefs, and 84 in solo pursuits. The findings indicated that FP frequency is generally predicted by a tendency to experience hallucinations, with paranoia and gender also playing roles in those with psychosis. Qualitative analysis revealed both shared and unique aspects of FP across these contexts.
Study at a glance
| Design | mixed-methods analysis |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 206 |
| Population | individuals with experience of psychosis, spiritual beliefs, and practitioners of endurance/solo pursuits |
| Key finding | FP frequency was predicted by a general tendency to experience hallucinations across all three studies. |
Abstract
Experiences of felt presence (FP) are well documented in neurology, neuropsychology and bereavement research, but systematic research in relation to psychopathology is limited. FP is a feature of sensorimotor disruption in psychosis, hypnagogic experiences, solo pursuits and spiritual encounters, but research comparing these phenomena remains rare. A comparative approach to the phenomenology of FP has the potential to identify shared and unique processes underlying the experience across these contexts, with implications for clinical understanding and intervention. We present a mixed-methods analysis from three online surveys comparing FP across three diverse contexts: a population sample which included people with experience of psychosis and voice-hearing (study 1, N = 75), people with spiritual and spiritualist beliefs (study 2, N = 47) and practitioners of endurance/solo pursuits (study 3, N = 84). Participants were asked to provide descriptions of their FP experiences and completed questionnaires on FP frequency, hallucinatory experiences, dissociation, paranoia, social inner speech and sleep. Data and code for the study are available via OSF. Hierarchical linear regression analysis indicated that FP frequency was predicted by a general tendency to experience hallucinations in all three studies, although paranoia and gender (female > male) were also significant predictors in sample 1. Qualitative analysis highlighted shared and diverging phenomenology of FP experiences across the three studies, including a role for immersive states in FP. These data combine to provide the first picture of the potential shared mechanisms underlying different accounts of FP, supporting a unitary model of the experience.