A. Honig et al., AUDITORY HALLUCINATIONS - A COMPARISON BETWEEN PATIENTS AND NONPATIENTS, The Journal of nervous and mental disease, 186(10), 1998, pp. 646-651
The form and the content of chronic auditory hallucinations were compa
red in three cohorts, namely patients with schizophrenia, patients wit
h a dissociative disorder, and nonpatient voice-hearers. The form of t
he hallucinatory experiences was not significantly different between t
he three groups. The subjects in the nonpatient group, unlike those in
the patient groups, perceived their voices as predominantly positive:
they were not alarmed or upset by their voices and felt in control of
the experience. In most patients, the onset of auditory hallucination
s was preceded by either a traumatic event or an event that activated
the memory of earlier trauma. The significance of this study is that i
t presents evidence that the form of the hallucinations experienced by
both patient and nonpatient groups is similar, irrespective of diagno
sis. Differences between groups were predominantly related to the cont
ent, emotional quality, and locus of control of the voices. In this st
udy the disability incurred by hearing voices is associated with (the
reactivation of) previous trauma and abuse.