Are auditory verbal hallucinations in schizophrenia just “voices” or something different?: Clinical, empirical and phenomenological perspectives
European Psychiatry October 23, 2023 A. U. Parnas
Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) in schizophrenia are not clear-cut perceptual errors but are often preceded by subtle anomalies of subjective experience, such as feeling different or thought interference. In a qualitative study of 20 readmitted patients with paranoid schizophrenia, many could not tell whether voices were internal or external and doubted whether they were voices or just thoughts. The label 'voices' was typically acquired in psychiatric settings. AVH alone do not indicate mental disturbance unless part of a deeper change in consciousness. There is continuity between thinking and hallucinating; AVH occur in the patient's intimate sphere, not in shared social space. Psychiatrists' insistence on framing AVH as perceptions may obscure their true nature.