AUDITORY HALLUCINATIONS - A COMPARISON BETWEEN PATIENTS AND NONPATIENTS

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.