Clara S Humpston

Department of Psychology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, United Kingdom.

2 papers in the library · 8 citations · publishing 2026

Papers

Delusion as embodied emotion: a qualitatively driven, multimethod study of first-episode psychosis in the UK.

The lancet. Psychiatry February 1, 2026 Rosa Ritunnano, Jeannette Littlemore, Barnaby Nelson et al. 8 citations

Delusions in first-episode psychosis are not isolated symptoms but emerge from a global shift in how a person experiences self and world, shaped by early negative emotions like shame. In a qualitative study of ten adults, persecutory, reference, and grandiose or religious themes were common and overlapping. Narrative interviews revealed that recurrent shame, anger, and fear, along with efforts to avoid or immerse in these emotions, preceded delusions. Three emotional transformation patterns were identified: from embodied shame to invincibility, from meaninglessness to love and hope, and feeling cut off in a simulation. Delusions reflect an embodied, temporal process where bodily experiences link to extreme appraisals, such as being a bad person or connected to God. Interventions should target the lived body and social environments for emotional regulation.

DOI: 10.1016/s2215-0366(25)00341-4 Full text

A 20-Year Descriptive Phenomenological Study of Depersonalization and Derealization as an Alteration in Sense of Self and Lifeworld.

Schizophrenia bulletin April 10, 2026 Cherise Rosen, Liping Tong, Julia G Lebovitz et al.

Depersonalization (DP) and derealization (DR) are alterations in sense of self and lifeworld that often co-occur in psychosis. Over 20 years, the Chicago Longitudinal Study examined these phenomena across psychiatric categories. DP was broadly distributed across diagnoses, while DR showed greater specificity to schizophrenia. Network analyses revealed three foundational constructs in schizophrenia: alteration in sense of self/lifeworld, multisensory experiences, and bodily experiences; bodily and multisensory alterations were foundational in affective-psychosis. Self-disturbance emerged as foundational only in schizophrenia. The findings support reframing DP and DR as points on a continuum of attenuated alterations in sense of self and lifeworld, representing a fundamental self-disturbance in existential feeling.

DOI: 10.1093/schbul/sbag013 Full text Phenomenology Depersonalization Derealization Psychosis +2