The association between traumatic experience, paranoia and hallucinations: a test of the predictions of psychological models

Abstract

The results provide support for the prediction that there may be two routes between trauma and predisposition to psychosis. Clear support was found for a link between trauma and psychosis mediated by negative beliefs about self and others. There may also be a direct association between re-experiencing symptoms and hallucinations.

Variation in psychosocial influences according to the dimensions and content of children’s unusual experiences: potential routes for the development of targeted interventions

“…Findings support a role for the psychological sequelae of experiences of trauma and adversity, such as re-experiencing, hyperarousal, and avoidance, in increased frequency of UEs and the aetiology of hallucinations [19][20][21]. The unhypothesised link of paranoia with trauma and adversity is consistent with literature implicating negative schematic beliefs, learnt and reinforced through life experience, in the development and maintenance of paranoia [13,18,20,21].…”

“…The unhypothesised link of paranoia with trauma and adversity is consistent with literature implicating negative schematic beliefs, learnt and reinforced through life experience, in the development and maintenance of paranoia [13,18,20,21]. Hypothesis iii) was also partially supported.…”

“…Emotional problems (depression and anxiety) are associated with distress and paranoid content [13][14][15][16][17][18]. Negative life events are associated, potentially through trauma and re-experiencing pathways, with increased frequency of unusual, and especially hallucinatory, experiences [19][20][21][22]. These theoretical advances have informed the development of targeted CBTp interventions that focus on changing a particular cognitive or emotional process, in the context of a particular symptom presentation.…”

Are psychotic experiences among detained juvenile offenders explained by trauma and substance use?

“…Childhood emotional abuse has been found to damage self-representation (Finzi-Dottan and Karu, 2006), causing individuals to believe that other people are hostile and threatening, which may then trigger the onset and maintenance of psychotic experiences (Johns et al, 2004). Support for this theory stems from a recent study that found that negative schematic beliefs about others are particularly associated with paranoia-related symptoms (Gracie et al, 2007). However, because mapping the relationship between specific types of abuse/neglect and specific types of psychotic experiences is still in its infancy, further research is warranted (Kilcommons and Morrison, 2005;Read et al, 2003).…”

Trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder and psychosis: etiopatho­genic and nosological implications

“…From cognitive-behavioural models, many studies with community samples found that the presence of a history of CT contributes to the development of negative cognitive schemas about the Self and the others, which predispose to psychotic-like symptoms in adulthood, mainly paranoid delusions 15,26,28,37,38 . On the other hand, a series of research studies with samples of psychotic patients claimed that the presence of dissociative processes following CT accounts for the emergence of psychoticlike symptoms in adulthood, particularly hallucinations 15,23,[39][40][41] , Likewise, other studies with clinical and community samples considered that high anxiety partially results in psychotic-like symptoms in subjects with traumatic events in their childhood or adolescence phases 22,[42][43][44] .…”