The experience of VH in psychosis from the first-person perspective
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The experience of visual hallucinations in psychosis from the first-person perspective: understanding the phenomenology, maintenance, impact and treatment need.
IRAS ID
291872
Contact name
Charlotte Aynsworth
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 2 days
Research summary
Visual hallucinations (VH) are experiences when people see something that is not actually there. Many people experience their ‘eyes playing tricks on them’ and can see things from time to time, whereas some people see them more frequently. VH occur in approximately one in four people with psychosis (a mental health problem). However, there is very little research into these experiences.
VH tend to be of other people, shadows or animals. Seeing things that are not there can be very distressing. The amount of distress is linked with how people make sense of the VH. For example, if people think the VH is a sign that they are ‘losing their mind’, they are more distressed by the VH. However, we do not know much about how people make sense of the VH or what in particular is distressing for them.
There has been research that has found when people do see VH, they are often more unwell, needing longer treatments and more hospital admissions. We think that because of this they have a negative impact on people’s lives; however, we do not know how people are individually affected by VH. If VH have a big impact on people’s lives, it is important that we develop a treatment for these. No one however has asked people with VH about how they are affected by these and if they feel a treatment focusing on these specifically would be helpful.
This study will be the first to interview people and ask about their experiences of VH: what people see, how they make sense of the VH, the distress and impact of VH, and if they would like a treatment for VH. We will use a set of structured questions as well as personalised questions depending on what each person answers to these questions.
REC name
North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 2 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/NE/0099
Date of REC Opinion
21 May 2021
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion