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Identifying Specific Interpretations and Exploring the Nature of Safety Behaviours for People Who Hear Voices: An Exploratory Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2008

Sarah Nothard ,
Anthony P. Morrison  and
Adrian Wells
Sarah Nothard*
Affiliation:
University of Manchester and Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust, UK
Anthony P. Morrison
Affiliation:
University of Manchester and Bolton Salford and Trafford Mental Health Trust, UK
Adrian Wells
Affiliation:
University of Manchester and Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust, UK
*
Reprint requests to Sarah Nothard, Bolton Early Intervention Team, Paragon Business Park, Chorley New Road, Bolton, Lancashire BL6 6HG, UK. E-mail: sarah.nothard@gmw.nhs.uk An extended version is also available online in the table of contents for this issue: http://journals.cambridge.org/jid_BCP
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Abstract

The concept of safety (seeking) behaviours has been very important in cognitive behavioural models of anxiety disorders. Morrison (1998) considered how a similar process may be involved in the development and maintenance of auditory hallucinations; however there has been no research that specifically explores safety behaviours in people who hear voices. The S-REF model (Wells and Matthews, 1994) proposed that compensatory beliefs mediate the choice of coping mechanism. The aim of this study was to explore whether people who hear voices have interpretations about the experience of hearing voices and if this interpretation threatens their physiological or psychological wellbeing, do they engage in safety behaviours to prevent this feared outcome. The study also considered whether the choice of behaviour was cognitively mediated. Twelve participants who had heard voices in the previous 2 weeks completed the study; 11 participants reported catastrophic interpretations and 12 reported using safety behaviours. The theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.

Keywords

Safety behavioursvoices
Type
Brief Clinical Reports
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 36 , Issue 3 , May 2008 , pp. 353 - 357
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2008

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References

Chadwick, P. and Birchwood, M. (1994). The omnipotence of voices: a cognitive approach to auditory hallucinations. British Journal of Psychiatry, 164, 190–201.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Haddock, G., McCarron, J., Tarrier, N. and Faragher, E. B. (1999). Scales to measure dimensions of hallucinations and delusions: the psychotic symptom rating scales (PSYRATS). Psychological Medicine, 29, 879–889.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morrison, A. P. (1998). A cognitive analysis of auditory hallucinations: are voices to schizophrenia what bodily sensations are to panic? Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 26, 289–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrison, A. P., Wells, A. and Nothard, S. (2002). Cognitive and emotional predictors of predisposition to hallucinations in non-patients. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 41, 259–270.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
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Wells, A. and Matthews, G. (1994). Attention and Emotion: a clinical perspective. Hove, East Sussex: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
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