The relationship with the voices as a dialogical experience: The role of self‐focused attention and dissociation

Abstract

Objective The purpose of this article was to study the relationship of self‐focused attention and dissociation with the dialogical relationship persons diagnosed with psychosis have with their voices. Method The DAIMON Scale was applied to 62 persons diagnosed with psychosis to measure the dialogical relationship with their voices, and the Cambridge depersonalization scale, the Tellegen absorption scale, and the self‐focused attention scale. Results The results showed that the dialogical relationship with the voices was associated with high levels of self‐focused attention (private and public), depersonalization, and absorption. It was also found that absorption mediated significantly between public self‐focused attention and the dialogical relationship with the voices. Conclusions The role of dissociation and self‐focused attention in forming the dialogical relationship a person with psychosis has with the voices is discussed and approaches to treatment are suggested.

Obsessive-compulsive symptoms and dissociative experiences: Suggested underlying mechanisms and implications for science and practice

“…One directional finding for example, is that elevated rumination (entailing inward-focusing), longitudinally predicted an increase in DEP/DER from 1 month to the next in a 6-month study, suggesting a long-term cumulative effect, whereas the opposite effect did not exist ( Vannikov-Lugassi et al, 2021 ). In a different study on people diagnosed with psychosis, self-focused attention and DEP/DER were related, and both associated with voice-hearing engagement ( Perona-Garcelán et al, 2020 ). Another relevant clinical sample is maladaptive daydreamers, i.e., individuals characterized by high AII, who become addicted to immersing themselves in rich, narrative fantasies, at the expense of being present in their realities.…”

The Effect of Attentional Avoidance, Attentional Focusing, and Mindfulness on the Frequency of Voice-Hearing and Associated Distress in People with Schizophrenia: A randomized Controlled Trial

“…Hallucinatory experiences are usually associated with distress ( 1 ) and interfere with the social and professional functioning of those who experience them ( 2 ). They are also a source of anguish to patients of schizophrenia ( 3 ), almost in a third of cases are resistant to medication ( 4 ), and can eventually lead to harm to the patients or others and even to suicide ( 5 ). However, clinicians’ most important intervention to reduce schizophrenia patients’ hallucinations is medication treatments that often have side effects and do not help all ( 2 ).…”