Journal of medical Internet research
December 6, 2024
Rebecca Blackmore, Claudia Giles, Hailey Tremain et al.
23 citations
A single, brief virtual-reality-supported mindfulness practice—watching a 360-degree forest video with a guided audio voiceover—improved state mindfulness and reduced negative affect and anxiety in people with mood or anxiety disorders. Among 28 participants diagnosed with major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, or an anxiety disorder, measures of curiosity and decentering (Toronto Mindfulness Scale) increased significantly (Cohen d=1.3 and 1.51), while negative affect (Cohen d=0.62) and state anxiety (Cohen d=0.84) decreased significantly. Positive affect did not change. Qualitative interviews revealed that the VR experience felt effortless, convenient, and safe, and participants saw potential for using VR mindfulness to manage emotions and mental health symptoms.
Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry
November 22, 2019
Sally Meikle, Paul Liknaitzky, Susan L. Rossell et al.
19 citations
Psilocybin, a psychedelic drug, is gaining attention as a potential treatment for depression due to its mechanism of action, benefits in early trials, and relatively low side effect burden. This viewpoint outlines key unresolved issues for its clinical use: identifying which patients are most likely to benefit or experience adverse effects, understanding longer-term outcomes, and clarifying the role of psychotherapeutic support alongside the drug. There are also opportunities to better understand the neurobiology underlying its effects.
Schizophrenia (Heidelberg, Germany)
September 29, 2025
Wei Lin Toh, Sophie Richards, Charles Fernyhough et al.
4 citations
Hearing voices is well studied in psychosis, but unusual perceptions in other senses and in other mental health conditions are often overlooked. This narrative review examined voices and altered perceptual experiences across psychotic, mood, and anxiety disorders. Key findings include: these experiences vary widely within individuals and across diagnoses, often involving multiple senses; existing research focuses mainly on trauma and brain processes as causes; current theories mostly address only voices; new treatments need to be broader; and there are major issues with how these experiences are defined and how they differ across cultures. The review calls for better assessment tools and more consistent research methods, and emphasizes including patients' own perspectives and cultural context.
Behavioural and cognitive psychotherapy
January 1, 2024
Lindsay Smith, Susan L. Rossell, Neil Thomas et al.
4 citations
Auditory verbal hallucinations (voice-hearing) cause similar levels of distress in people with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, but those with bipolar disorder are more likely to attribute the voices to internal causes. In bipolar disorder, distress is linked to beliefs that the voices are malevolent, omnipotent, and to be resisted, yet only resistance, along with manic and depressive symptoms, independently predicts distress. The findings suggest that reducing resistance to voices and addressing mood symptoms could be therapeutic targets for voice-hearing in bipolar disorder.
The Journal of nervous and mental disease
April 1, 2024
Wei Lin Toh, Neil Thomas, Susan Lee Rossell
1 citation
Visual 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.
Psychology and psychotherapy
December 7, 2025
Sepinood Noroozi, Nastaran Doroud, Eleanor Longden et al.
Hearing voices can challenge a person's sense of self and autonomy, but autonomy is continuously negotiated through reflection, adaptation, and self-regulation. Interviews with six voice hearers revealed three key themes: voices challenged self-authorship, requiring personally meaningful narratives to re-establish autonomy; autonomy and power were shared and negotiated with voices; and voices interfered with perceived competence and decision-making, limiting the ability to navigate life independently. The capacity to integrate experiences and influence change affected how self-determined participants felt. Supporting voice hearers in constructing self-oriented narratives may strengthen their sense of autonomy.
Schizophrenia bulletin
January 16, 2026
Neil Thomas, Thomas Ward, Eleanor Longden et al.
A new group of psychological interventions for hearing voices, called relational therapies, focuses on changing how a person relates to their voices. These therapies include Relating Therapy, Talking with Voices, and AVATAR Therapy. They use experiential dialogue with voices, such as role-play, direct conversation, or computer avatars, to improve the hearer-voice relationship. AVATAR Therapy has shown effectiveness in multiple randomized trials, Relating Therapy in two trials, and a trial for Talking with Voices is ongoing. Key mechanisms involve changing how the hearer relates to the voice, reducing threat, and integrating the voice experience into the person's life story. Future research should explore which therapy works for whom and how these therapies affect voice hearing itself.
Journal of personality disorders
August 1, 2022
Zalie Merrett, David J Castle, Neil Thomas et al.
Hallucinations and delusions are common in borderline personality disorder (BPD) and often resemble those in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. In a study of 89 adults, 81% of those with BPD reported visual and tactile hallucinations, 75% reported olfactory hallucinations, and 94% experienced delusions. Comparing BPD with and without voices showed no significant differences in nonpsychotic psychopathology. Hallucinations in BPD were similar to those in schizophrenia, though the BPD group had higher rates of paranoia and delusions of guilt. Multisensory hallucinations and delusions in BPD warrant clinical attention.