Self and world experience in non-affective first episode of psychosis.
Schizophrenia research September 1, 2019 Luis Madeira, Elizabeth Pienkos, Teresa Filipe et al. 18 citations
People with first-episode psychosis often experience profound changes in how they perceive the world around them—including alterations in space, time, and other people—alongside disturbances in their sense of self. In a study comparing 24 outpatients with first-episode psychosis to 24 healthy controls, those with psychosis scored significantly higher on both the Examination of Anomalous World Experience (EAWE) and the Examination of Anomalous Self Experience (EASE). Scores on the two measures were strongly correlated, even after accounting for overlapping items. The types of world-experience anomalies varied widely among patients. These findings suggest that anomalous world experiences are a relevant feature of first-episode psychosis and may be linked to the self-disturbances thought to underlie schizophrenia spectrum disorders.