Cognitive behaviour therapy with coping training for persistent auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia: a naturalistic follow-up study of the durability of effects

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the durability of positive effects of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) with coping training on psychotic symptoms and social functioning. Method: Forty patients with schizophrenia or related psychotic disorders and refractory auditory hallucinations were given CBT and coping training in an integrated single family treatment programme. In a naturalistic study patients were followed after 2 and 4 years since the start of treatment. RESULTS: The treatment improved overall burden of 'hearing voices', with a generalization into daily functioning. Improvement with regard to fear, loss of control, disturbance of thought and interference with thinking was sustained by 60% of the patients while one-third improved further. Complete disappearance of hallucinations occurred in 18% of the patients. CONCLUSION: CBT with coping training can improve both overall symptomatology and quality of life, even over longer periods of time, but a status of persistent disablement indicates a continuing need for mental health care.     

Burden and coping strategies in mothers of patients with schizophrenia in Japan

Aim:  The present study was conducted to identify factors contributing to burden of care in 57 mothers caring for patients with schizophrenia.
Methods:  Members of the Federation of Families of People with Mental Illness in Nagasaki Prefecture were evaluated using well-validated scales to evaluate burden of care (eight-item short version of the Japanese version of the Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview), general health status (General Health Questionnaire 12-item version), difficulty in life, coping strategies, emotional support, and understanding of mental illness and disorders.
Results:  Burden of care was significantly associated with general health status and difficulty in life.
Conclusion:  On multiple regression it was found that 'social interests' and 'resignation', both of which are the subscales of coping strategies, exerted significant and independent effects with respect to burden of care.     

Self-recognition deficits in schizophrenia patients with auditory hallucinations: a meta-analysis of the literature

Theories about auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia suggest that these experiences occur because patients fail to recognize thoughts and mental events as self-generated. Different theoretical models have been proposed about the cognitive mechanisms underlying auditory hallucinations. Regardless of the cognitive model being tested, however, experimental designs are almost identical in that they require a judgment regarding whether an action was self-originated or not. The aim of the current study was to integrate all available literature for a meta-analysis on this topic and reach conclusions about self-recognition performance in (1) patients with schizophrenia compared with healthy controls and (2) patients with auditory hallucinations compared with patients without these symptoms. A comprehensive literature review identified 23 studies that contrasted the performance of schizophrenia patients with healthy controls (1370 participants) and 9 studies that directly compared patients with and without auditory hallucinations (315 participants). We found significantly reduced self-recognition performance in schizophrenia patients, which was more pronounced in patients with auditory hallucinations compared with patients without. In patients with hallucinations, this pattern of performance was specific to self-recognition processes and not to the recognition of new external information. A striking finding was the homogeneity in results across studies regardless of the action modality, timing delay, and design used to measure self-recognition. In summary, this review of studies from the last 30 years substantiates the view that self-recognition is impaired in patients with schizophrenia and particularly those with auditory hallucinations. This suggests an association, perhaps a causal one, between such deficit and hallucinatory experiences in schizophrenia.     

Auditory verbal hallucinations and the interhemispheric auditory pathway in chronic schizophrenia

Objectives. The interhemispheric auditory pathway has been shown to play a crucial role in the processing of acoustic stimuli, and alterations of structural and functional connectivity between bilateral auditory areas are likely relevant to the pathogenesis of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs). The aim of this study was to examine this pathway in patients with chronic schizophrenia regarding their lifetime history of AVHs. Methods. DTI scans were acquired from 33 healthy controls (HC), 24 schizophrenia patients with a history of AVHs (LT-AVH) and nine schizophrenia patients without any lifetime hallucinations (N-LT-AVH). The interhemispheric auditory fibre bundles were extracted using streamline tractography. Subsequently, diffusivity indices, namely Fractional Anisotropy (FA), Trace, Mode, Axial and Radial diffusivity, were calculated. Results. FA was decreased over the entire pathway in LT-AVH compared with N-LT-AVH. Moreover, LT-AVH displayed decreased FA and Mode as well as increased radial diffusivity in the midsagittal section of the fibre tract. Conclusions. These findings indicate complex microstructural changes in the interhemispheric auditory pathway of schizophrenia patients with a history of AVHs. Alterations appear to be absent in patients who have never hallucinated.     

A new questionnaire assessing coping strategies in relatives of patients with schizophrenia: development and factor analysis

This paper describes the development and validation of a questionnaire assessing the coping strategies adopted by relatives of patients with schizophrenia. The final version of the questionnaire includes 27 items, grouped into seven subscales (information, positive communication, social interests, coercion, avoidance, resignation and patient's social involvement), the intra-rater reliability of which ranges from 0.46 to 0.76. Cronbach's alpha coefficient, which tests the content validity of the subscales, ranges from 0.68 to 0.83. Factor analysis identifies three factors (problem-oriented coping strategies, emotionally focused strategies, and maintenance of social interests in association with patient's avoidance), accounting for 70.9% of the total variance. This questionnaire may be particularly useful for targeting and monitoring psychoeducational interventions in the families of patients with schizophrenia.     

Pathogenesis and symptomatology of hallucinations (delusions) of organic brain disorder and schizophrenia

In this review article, in order to explore the mechanisms underlying the hallucinations/delusions of schizophrenia, we discuss the contribution of the following four questions: (i) can an understanding of dreams contribute to our understanding of the genesis of halluciations and/or delusions; (ii) are the mechanisms underlying psychotropic drug‐induced psychoses the same as those underlying the hallucinations and/or delusions in schizophrenia; (iii) does disturbed consciousness contribute to the manifestation of psychotic features; and (iv) are the psychoses caused by organic brain disorders any different to the hallucinations and/or delusions seen in schizophrenia? We conclude that there is a strong association between drug‐induced hallucinations or hallucinations associated with organic brain disorders and simple hallucinosis or fluctuations in arousal level. Because intermediate configurations and/or cross‐staining phenomena exist for hallucinations and delusions, especially in schizophrenic disorders, it is difficult to isolate the hallucinations and to recognize them as being abnormal experiences.     

Reduced frontotemporal functional connectivity in schizophrenia associated with auditory hallucinations.

BACKGROUND: We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the frontotemporal disconnection hypothesis of schizophrenia. METHODS: Eight DSM-IV schizophrenia patients and 10 control subjects were studied with fMRI while they thought of the missing last word in 128 visually presented sentences. The fMRI data were analyzed comparing the effect of sentence completion (vs. rest) using a random effects analysis. RESULTS: There were no significant group differences in regional brain responses. Correlation coefficients between left temporal cortex (x = -54, y = -42, z = 3) and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (x = -39, y = 12, z = 24) were significantly lower in the schizophrenic group and were negatively correlated with the severity of auditory hallucinations. CONCLUSIONS: Previous demonstrations of hypofrontality in schizophrenia may reflect particular task requirements. Frontotemporal functional connectivity is reduced in schizophrenia and may be associated with auditory hallucinations.     

Network dynamics during the different stages of hallucinations in schizophrenia

The majority of patients with schizophrenia suffer from hallucinations. While the triple‐network model, which includes the default mode network (DMN), the central executive network (CEN) and the salience network (SAL), has recently been applied to schizophrenia, how this framework could explain the emergence of hallucinations remains unclear. Therefore, complementary brain regions that have been linked to hallucinations, such as the left hippocampus, should also be considered and added to this model. Accordingly, the present study explored the effective connectivity across these four components (i.e., the quadripartite model) during the different stages of hallucinations. Twenty‐five patients with schizophrenia participated in a single session of resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging to capture hallucinatory experiences. Based on the participants' self‐report of the psychosensory experiences that occurred during scanning, hallucinatory experiences were identified and divided into four stages: periods without hallucination (“OFF”), periods with hallucination (“ON”), transition periods between “OFF” and “ON”, and the extinction of the hallucinatory experience (“END”). Using stochastic dynamic causal modeling analysis, this study first confirmed that the SAL played a critical and causal role in switching between the CEN and the DMN in schizophrenia. In addition, effective connectivity within the quadripartite model depended on the hallucinatory stage. In particular, “ON” periods were linked to memory‐based sensory input from the hippocampus to the SAL, while “END” periods were associated with a takeover of the CEN in favor of a voluntary process. Finally, the pathophysiological and therapeutic implications of these findings are critically discussed. Hum Brain Mapp 37:2571–2586, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc .     

Hallucination of soliloquy: speaking component and hearing component of schizophrenic hallucinations

In the present paper, two cases of schizophrenia with hallucinatory soliloquy are presented, and the concept of the symptom, hallucination of soliloquy is proposed. In hallucination of soliloquy, while having the experience of hearing his own voice, the patient has a conviction that he speaks out aloud, without actually vocalizing. It is an abnormal experience of both speaking and hearing; that is, a combination of auditory hallucination and motor hallucination. It is considered that hallucination of soliloquy is an exemplar of schizophrenic hallucinations.     

低频重复经颅磁刺激治疗精神分裂症顽固性幻听的临床研究

目的：研究左侧颞顶区低频（1Hz）重复经颅磁刺激（rTMS）治疗伴有顽固性言语性幻听的精神分裂症的疗效。方法：将35例伴有顽固言语性幻听的精神分裂症患者随机分为研究组18例和对照组17例。在原有抗精神病药种类及剂量不变的基础上,研究组给予左侧颞顶区频率为1Hz的真性rTMS刺激2周共10次,对照组给予相应的假性刺激。两组治疗前后均采用阳性与阴性症状量表（PANSS）评定其总体临床症状及幻听的变化,并进行威斯康星卡片分类测验（WCST）及听觉注意力测验（CPT）。结果：35例患者均完成治疗,研究组治疗前后幻听评分分别为（4．89±1．18）分和（3．00±1．75）分,对照组治疗前后幻听评分分别为（4．88±1．11）分和（4．24±1．20）分（F=7．72,P=0．009）。研究组有效率77．8％显著优于对照组41．2％（P=0．041）。治疗后两组问PANSS评分除阴性症状外其他各项评分改善差异均有显著性（P〈0．05）。WCST和CFF评分治疗后两组间差异无显著性（P〉0．05）。结论：左侧颞顶区rTMS对于幻听具有较肯定的治疗作用,并且能够改善精神分裂症患者的总体精神病性症状。在一定程度上能够改善患者的认知功能,但尚无确切疗效。     

The relationship between coping style and burden in the carers of reatives with schizophrenia

The development of a questionnaire to measure the coping style of people caring for a relative with schizophrenia is described. Data on the psychometric properties of this questionnaire are reported for a sample of 91 carers. It is shown that coping style is associated with carer burden and psychological distress. In particular, the coping styles ‘collusion’, ‘criticism/coercion’,‘overprotectiveness',‘emotional over-involvement’ and‘resignation’ were found to be associated with higher levels of carer burden, and the coping style‘warmth’ was found to be associated with lower levels of carer burden.     

Quantitative meta-analysis on state and trait aspects of auditory verbal hallucinations in schizophrenia

Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) have a high prevalence in schizophrenic patients. An array of studies have explored the neural correlates of AVHs by means of functional neuroimaging and have associated AVHs with diverse brain regions, some of which have been shown to be involved in speech generation, speech perception, and auditory stimulus processing. We divided these studies into "state" studies comparing periods of presence and absence of AVHs within-subject and "trait" studies comparing patients experiencing AVHs with patients without AVHs or healthy controls during tasks with verbal material. We set out to test the internal consistency and possible dissociations of the neural correlates of AVHs. We used activation likelihood estimation to perform quantitative meta-analyses on brain regions reported in state and trait studies on AVHs to assess significant concordance across studies. State studies were associated with activation in bilateral inferior frontal gyrus, bilateral postcentral gyrus, and left parietal operculum. Trait studies on the other hand showed convergence of decreases in hallucinating subjects in left superior temporal gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus, anterior cingulate cortex, and left premotor cortex activity. Based on the clear dissociation of brain regions that show convergence across state in comparison to trait studies, we conclude that the state of experiencing AVHs is primarily related brain regions that have been implicated in speech production ie, Broca's area, whereas the general trait that makes humans prone to AVHs seems to be related to brain areas involved in auditory stimuli processing and speech perception, ie, auditory cortex.     

Slow transcranial magnetic stimulation can rapidly reduce resistant auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Almost a quarter of patients with schizophrenia present with resistant auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH), a phenomenon that may relate to activation of brain areas underlying speech perception. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) at 1 Hz reduces cortical activation, and recent results have shown that 1-Hz left temporoparietal rTMS may reduce AVH. The aim of this study was to replicate recent data and investigate whether low-frequency rTMS with a high total stimulation number delivered in a shorter 5-day block produces similar benefit. METHODS: Ten right-handed schizophrenia patients with resistant AVH received 5 days of active rTMS and 5 days of sham rTMS (2,000 stimulations per day at 90% of motor threshold) over the left temporoparietal cortex in a double-blind crossover design. The two weeks of stimulation were separated by a 1-week washout period. RESULTS: AVH were robustly improved (56%) by 5 days active rTMS, whereas no variation was observed after sham. Seven patients were responders to active treatment, five of whom maintained improvement for at least 2 months. CONCLUSIONS: These data confirm the efficiency of low-frequency rTMS applied to the left temporoparietal cortex, compared with sham stimulation, in reducing resistant AVH. This improvement can be obtained in only 5 days without serious initial adverse events.     

Auditory hallucinations in pre-pubertal children

Background The aims of this study were to describe the phenomenology of auditory hallucinations in children, to establish links with DSM IV diagnoses and to explore development of the hallucinations over a 12-month period. Methods Outpatients aged 5- to 12-year-old were consecutively recruited. They were interviewed using a questionnaire investigating auditory hallucinations. DSM IV diagnoses were determined. Follow-up assessments were performed at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. Results Ninety children were recruited. Sixteen reported auditory hallucinations. In 53% we observed children’s full recovery from hallucinations within 3 months and all of these suffered from anxiety disorders. In 30% hallucinations persisted over 12 months and all showed conduct disorders at this point in time. None was diagnosed as having schizophrenia. Conclusions Our study provides further evidence of the high prevalence of auditory hallucinations in pre-pubertal children presenting to psychiatric clinics. Two different patterns of development were seen. In one group the hallucinations seem unrelated to psychosis although they may be a manifestation of anxiety. In the second, much smaller, persistence of hallucinations appeared linked to conduct disorders.     

Disease consciousness and coping strategies of patients with schizophrenic psychosis

In 50 schizophrenic patients, semistructured interviews were carried out concerning disease consciousness, occupation with the disease and behaviour and coping in case of psychotic experiences; 72% of the patients occupied themselves with their disease. In 84% a disease consciousness was present; 38% gave a multifactorial explanation for their psychosis. In 94% the occasional appearance of psychotic experiences was acknowledged. In 86% specific changes of the individual behaviour for coping with these experiences were described. These changes included withdrawal, increasing of interpersonal contact, cognitive control, symptomatic behaviour and adjustment of the neuroleptic medication. The study shows that schizophrenic patients are not passive victims of their disease. In the majority of cases a disease consciousness is present. The patients try to cope with their psychotic experiences in individually different ways. It is assumed that a better knowledge of these strategies might enable the clinician to use these phenomena as an adjunct to pharmacotherapy.     

Hallucinations in schizophrenia

The prevalence of different types of hallucinations and their clinical correlates were examined in 117 DSM-III-R schizophrenic or schizoaffective disorder patients. Auditory hallucinations were by far the most common, followed by visual hallucinations, and then by tactile and olfactory or gustatory hallucinations. Auditory hallucinations were associated with an earlier age of first hospitalization among the schizophrenics. Global severity of the illness for schizophrenics was related to the presence of visual hallucinations, but not other types of hallucinations. Tactile and olfactory or gustatory hallucinations were strongly correlated with each other and with the severity of delusions for both schizophrenic and schizoaffective patients. The results suggest that important clinical differences exist between patients with different types of hallucinations, and that these clinical variables need to be controlled for in cross-cultural studies of hallucinations.     

Cost-effectiveness of the HIT programme in patients with schizophrenia and persistent auditory hallucinations

OBJECTIVE: To examine the cost-effectiveness of Hallucination focused Integrative Treatment (HIT) in patients with schizophrenia and a history of persistent auditory hallucinations. METHOD: Costs, in and outside the health care sector, and outcomes were registered prospectively during a period of 18 months for patients who received the HIT programme and for patients in the care as usual (CAU) condition. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was used as main outcome measure in the cost-effectiveness analysis. Bootstrap analyses provided additional information on the skewly distributed costs. RESULTS: Mean costs per patient in the HIT group (18,237 dollars) were lower than the mean costs per patient in the CAU group (21,436 dollars). Results of the PANSS were slightly in favour of the HIT group. CONCLUSION: There appears to be no significant cost-effectiveness advantage of the HIT programme over CAU. Additional analyses indicated that future application of the HIT programme will, in most cases, lead to a reduction of (non) medical costs.     

精神分裂症患者应对方式的结构

背景 精神分裂症患者面临着许多压力,但他们不恰当的应对方式往往影响着疾病的预后.国外的应对方式问卷由于文化背景差异不完全适用于我国人群;而国内的应对方式量表是在精神病人以外的人群中建立的,是否适合精神病人仍不清楚.本研究旨在探索精神分裂症患者和正常人的应对方式结构是否相同,如存在差异,则应另编制适合患者的问卷.方法 通过文献复习收集了91个应对方式项目.7例精神分裂症患者完成模拟测查,根据反馈意见修改部分项目并补充了1个项目.经专家评阅后修改编辑成92个项目的应对方式问卷初稿.分别在符合入选条件的315名正常人和208例精神分裂症患者中测试.患者的入选条件①≥16岁;②符合中国精神障碍分类与诊断标准第3版(CCMD-3)精神分裂症诊断标准;③住院接受药物治疗1个月或以上;④临床总体印象评定的病情严重程度为"中度有病"或更轻,且阳性和阴性症状量表(PANSS)中"注意障碍"项目得分不超过3分;⑤能够理解题意独立完成问卷并知情同意.正常组入选条件①≥16岁;②无精神病史;③能理解题意独立完成问卷并知情同意.对测试结果采用探索性因子分析比较两组的应对方式结构.经过因子分析删除了共通性或载荷量低的项目,两组总共保留了73个项目.根据研究对象的反馈意见再次修改及合并有关项目,编辑成65个项目的应对方式问卷修改稿.而后在符合同样入选条件的另外287名正常人和219例精神分裂症患者中进行验证,采用验证性因子分析分别确定各自的应对方式结构.同时收集患者的病程、诊断亚型资料,并由3名经过一致性培训的主治医师以上的精神科医师对其中205名患者进行了PANSS评定,分析患者的临床特点与应对方式因子得分之间的关系.结果 正常组的应对方式包括"问题解决指向"、"回避"、"认知调整"、"情绪调节"、"寻找专业支持"和"否认"6个因子;而患者组只有前四个因子,后两个因子的相应项目分散到这四个因子中,没有形成独立的因子.验证性因子分析的结果验证了上述结构.研究对象的年龄、性别以及受教育程度对因子结构均无明显的影响.模型比较的结果说明4因子结构对分裂症患者优于6因子结构.偏执型患者"回避"因子分高于未分型患者;偏执型及未分型患者的"问题解决"和"认知调整"因子分高于其他患者.总病程与"情绪调节"因子分呈正相关;PANSS阳性症状分与"回避"因子分呈正相关.结论 精神分裂症患者应对方式的结构与正常人不同,患者的应对方式缺乏必要的选择性.在此基础上编制适合精神分裂症患者特点的应对方式问卷是必要的.     

Neuroimaging auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia: from neuroanatomy to neurochemistry and beyond

Despite more than 2 decades of neuroimaging investigations, there is currently insufficient evidence to fully understand the neurobiological substrate of auditory hallucinations (AH). However, some progress has been made with imaging studies in patients with AH consistently reporting altered structure and function in speech and language, sensory, and nonsensory regions. This report provides an update of neuroimaging studies of AH with a particular emphasis on more recent anatomical, physiological, and neurochemical imaging studies. Specifically, we provide (1) a review of findings in schizophrenia and nonschizophrenia voice hearers, (2) a discussion regarding key issues that have interfered with progress, and (3) practical recommendations for future studies.