Psychologists Push For New Approaches to Psychosis: Part 1

Psychologists and people with experience of psychotic symptoms publish a report on new ways of understanding "schizophrenia"

24
3388

A report, published by the British Psychological Society (BPS),Ā critiques the current state of knowledge of psychotic symptoms and the harmful implications of standard treatments, and makes suggestions for what needs to change.

One week following the governmentā€™s announcement of its review of mental health legislation, the British Psychological Societyā€™s Division of Clinical Psychology published an open-accessĀ report challenging the existing framework conceptualizing ā€œpsychosis.ā€ The authors attempt to dismantle the notion that schizophrenia is a ā€œbrain diseaseā€ which results in violent behaviors best regulated by medical intervention.

ā€œWe hope that this report will contribute to a fundamental change that is already underway in how we as a society think about and offer help for ā€˜psychosisā€™ and ā€˜schizophrenia,'” the authors write. “For example, we hope that in future services will no longer insist that service users accept one particular view of their problem, namely the traditional view that they have an illness which needs to be treated primarily by medication.ā€

The report, “Understanding Psychosis and Schizophrenia: Why people sometimes hear voices, believe things that others find strange or appear out of touch with reality, and what can help,” is available via BPS free of charge.

Aiming to impact service providers, users, and policy-makers, the report comprehensively reviews the current paradigm surrounding treatment for ā€œpsychosis,ā€ as an updated version of a previous report, published in 2000. The authors include distinguished psychologists, representing eight universities and six NHS trusts, and people who identify with having experienced symptoms associated with ā€œpsychosis.ā€ More than a quarter of the contributors come from the second group, referred to as ā€œexperts by experience.ā€

Taken together, the piece provides new insights by contextualizing psychotic presentations within interpersonal and sociopolitical contexts and repositioning what we know about psychosis within the current scientific literature.

The report begins by reviewing what has been commonly understood as psychosis (hearing voices, believing in things that others find strange, speaking in ways others find difficult to understand, and experiencing confusion that might be perceived as a loss of touch with reality). The authors underscore, however, how heterogeneous these experiences are, emphasizing the unique nature of these experiences across individuals and cultures.

Culture, they add, can radically influence the presentation of experiences (e.g. what kind of voices one might hear), how one understands and makes meaning of their experiences, and how one chooses to describe or explain their experiences to others. Misattributions by Western psychiatry have historically pathologized different groups or cultures in what some call a form of ā€œcultural imperialism.ā€

Additionally, they cite research which finds that many people have beliefs which others consider to be strange and that up to 10% of the population hears voices at least once in their life. While some may be frightened or distressed by these experiences, others never seek help or come in contact with mental health services simply because they are not bothered by what they experience. Some people find hearing voices to serve a helpful function in their life, or see them as spiritually enriching.

ā€œThe main thing that appears to distinguish them from those who come into contact with mental health services is the extent to which they, or those around them, find the experience distressing or frightening.ā€

One voice-hearer described the following:

ā€œWhen you canā€™t find a way out when you get into a complex situation, they (voices) help guide you. You donā€™t have to listen, you donā€™t have to take their advice but itā€™s nice that they give it anyway.ā€

The authors therefore suggest understanding ā€œschizophreniaā€ experiences on a continuum rather than conceptualizing it as a discrete construct. A nuanced and diverse understanding allows for greater inclusion of the various frequencies and intensities of experiences. Some people experience events such as hearing voices occasionally or in less distressing patterns whereas others might characterize them as more enduring and disruptive.

Considering the expansive and diverse presentation of experiences, research, unsurprisingly, demonstrates that reliability across clinicians remains low, varying especially across different doctors, hospitals, and countries.

ā€œEven experienced clinicians who have been given extra training in applying the criteria, only agree on a broad diagnostic category about 50 per cent of the time.ā€

Yet, the traditional view of conceptualizing psychosisĀ is one in which people either have it or they do not. This idea has taken hold in the field, as different diagnostic systems, including the DSM, have emphasized psychosis as qualitatively distinct state or presentation.

The authors expand on how providing a name for a phenomenon is itself misleading, and perhaps dangerous, especially when it is not homogenously experienced. They reference Psychiatrist Jim Van Os, who writes:

ā€œThe complicated, albeit ultimately meaningless, Greek term suggests that schizophrenia really is a ā€˜thingā€™, i.e. a ā€˜brain diseaseā€™ that exists as such in Nature. This is a false suggestion.ā€

A contributor who received a diagnosis of schizophrenia describes their reaction to their diagnosis:

ā€œI was labelled with all sorts: eating disorder not otherwise specified, major depressive disorder, borderline personality disorder, schizoaffective disorder and eventually schizophreniaā€¦ that was the one that knocked the stuffing out of me completely. What was the point in fighting if I was going to be suffering from a lifelong brain disease forever?ā€

Another writes, ā€œI am labelled for the rest of my lifeā€¦I think schizophrenia will always make me a second class citizenā€¦ I havenā€™t got a future.ā€

While some contributors depict a disempowering effect of receiving a diagnosis, others discuss the benefits arising from the label:

ā€œI think I prefer my illness having a name because it makes me feel less lonely, and I know that there are other people experiencing my kind of misery. And that people live through my illness and make a meaningful existence with it. But I also have to be careful not to adopt the sick role, since I know I would just give up if I did that.ā€

The diagnosis, writes the authors, does not provide any information on the etiology and interpersonal context of these experiences, therefore privileging internalizing explanations rather than those that address the impact of experiences such as trauma, poverty, discrimination, and institutional racism.

Recent recommendations have moved away from using diagnoses because of the observable negative impact it can have, particularly around generating stigma, further discrimination, and a medically pathologizing appraisal of experiences. The British Psychological Society (BPS) is one such organization that has criticized DSM-5 and ICD-10 diagnoses, calling for ā€œa paradigm shift in relation to the experiences that these diagnoses refer to, towards a conceptual system not based on a ā€˜diseaseā€™ model.ā€

Other organizations, such as the Schizophrenia Commission, have joined in on questioning the usefulness of diagnosing, launching an investigation on the impact of labeling peopleā€™s experiences.

Moreover, diagnostic constructs which focus exclusively on the presentation of symptoms obscure a holistic understanding of individualsā€™ wellbeing. People who hear voices or hold unusual beliefs oftentimes proceed to live meaningful, functional lives untroubled by these experiences. These experiences challenge approaches seeking to simply reduce ā€œsymptoms.ā€

As one individual explains:

ā€œI work four days a week in a professional job; I own my own house and live happily with my partner and pets. Occasionally I hear voices ā€“ for example when I have been particularly stressed or tired, or I have seen visions after a bereavement. Knowing that many people hear voices and live well, and that some cultures see these experiences as a gift, helps me to never catastrophise or to worry that it may be the start of a breakdown. Although I am lucky that the experiences have never been as upsetting as some peopleā€™s, if someone had told me it was madness I could have got into a vicious cycle and struggled to get out.ā€

Alternatively, the authors highlight the factors that seem most influential for recovery from distressing experiences and overall wellbeing: ā€œconnecting to the world outside of oneself (e.g. supportive relationships, spirituality), hope, a positive identity beyond being a patient, finding meaning in life, and empowerment (learning what helps and so gaining control, and having the right opportunities).ā€

Infused in these factors is the theme of relationships and support. Unfortunately, however, media images are saturated with harmful stereotypes of people who hear voices, experience schizophrenia, or hold beliefs perceived to be odd. They are most commonly depicted as likely to commit violent crimes. Yet the authors are clear in dispelling these myths surrounding a misled association between experiences of psychosis and violence.

ā€œIn contrast to media stereotypes, in reality few people who experience paranoia or hear distressing voices ever hurt anyone else. It is very slightly more common for people with psychiatric diagnoses to commit violent crimes than for those without such diagnoses. However, the difference in rates is extremely small: far less, for example, than the increased risk associated with any one of: being male, being young, having consumed alcohol or used street drugs, or having been violent in the past.ā€

On the other hand, mental health service users are much more likely to be victims of violence, perhaps because of the perpetuation of such harmful stereotypes that serve to incite fear in others.

Ultimately, the writers emphasize the need for service providers to respect the views of clients, as the etiology and presentation of experiences associated with psychosis are uniquely contextual and ill-fitted to reductive explanations, particularly those which attempt to fully confine these experiences to biological models.

While decades of research propose genetic, neurochemical, or other brain structures and functions as underpinning these experiences, the authors expressly state that ā€œto date, we do not have firm evidence for any specific biological mechanism underlying psychotic experiences.ā€

Not only does the ā€œbrain diseaseā€ explanation privilege drug treatment over talking treatments, making the latter less accessible, it has created a culture in which service providers are discouraged from attempting to understand the individualā€™s experiences or their context.

 

**

Part 2 of MIA’s coverage of this report (to be published next Monday, October 23rd) will expand upon theories that understand trauma, structural violence, and sociopolitical factors as underlying the development of psychotic symptoms. The report features additional contributions by voice hearers followed by implications for research, practice, self-help, and a call for aĀ paradigm shift in the field toward a more humanistic understanding of these experiences.

****

Cooke, A., Basset, T., Bentall, R., Boyle, M., Cupitt, C., Dillon, J., … & Kinderman, P. (2017). Understanding psychosis and schizophrenia, Revised version.Ā London: British Psychological Society, Division of Clinical Psychology. (Full Text)

24 COMMENTS

  1. Zenobia,

    I know you don’t often answer comments, but I’m curious if this is as big a deal as it would appear. After Will’s blog of ‘lamentation’ last week, this nearly seems the polar opposite. It almost seems like the movement just made a huge victory? Is the UK irrelevant unless the US gets on board? I wish someone ‘in the know’ would answer…
    Thanks,
    Sam

    Report comment

    • I agree that “psychotic” is mostly fictional. The exception is when people are drugged with a mistaken thought in their head, and since drugged can not be reasoned with or self reflect on their chain of logic that lead to their error in thinking.

      Report comment

      • I agree, “psychosis” is a meaningless “symptom.” According to my psychologist’s medical records, she thought thoughts, guts instincts, and dreams were all “psychosis.” Using her definition of the word “psychosis,” this would mean the entire world is “psychotic.” Which may be true, but that’s a whole different topic.

        “The report begins by reviewing what has been commonly understood as psychosis (hearing voices, believing in things that others find strange, speaking in ways others find difficult to understand, and experiencing confusion that might be perceived as a loss of touch with reality).” You forgot the number one reason psychologists and psychiatrists claim someone is “psychotic,” believing one was abused, sexually assaulted, or having concerns of child abuse of any sort.

        We know this is the number one reason for being diagnosed as “psychotic” because today, “the prevalence of childhood trauma exposure within … individuals diagnosed with psychotic or affective disorders, [childhood trauma exposure] reaches 82% (Larsson et al., 2012).”

        I agree “schizophrenia,” and all the DSM disorders, are stigmatizations that do more harm than good to the “service users.” But I’d like to point out that the primary etiology of “schizophrenia” is likely the treatment, thus iatrogenic, as opposed to “genetic,” in nature.

        Today’s “gold standard schizophrenia treatments,” the neuroleptics/antipsychotics, can create the negative symptoms of “schizophrenia” via neuroleptic induced deficit syndrome.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroleptic-Induced_Deficit_Syndrome

        And the neuroleptics/antipsychotics, and antidepressants, can create “psychosis,” one of the positive symptoms of “schizophrenia,” via antidepressant or antipsychotic induced anticholinergic toxidrome.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxidrome

        But since neither of these known neuroleptic induced illnesses/poisonings are listed in the scientifically invalid DSM, they are always misdiagnosed as one of the billable DSM disorders.

        But the bottom line is the “schizophrenia treatments” do create both the negative and positive symptoms of “schizophrenia,” and the “professionals” claim to be ignorant of this reality.

        Report comment

    • The counsellors I was provided with by MIND UK never mentioned “psychosis” or “disorder”, “bipolar”, “schizophrenia” or any other “diagnosis” or to me – I suffered with anxiety and they helped me with this (as best as they could).

      In my experience the psychological process by which “Severe” Anxiety can be overcome is much the same as that by which “Normal” Anxiety can be overcome.

      The source of my anxiety was the withdrawal from psychiatric drugs and, I don’t suffer much with anxiety now.

      Report comment

    • At the very least, know the difference between signs and symptoms. Symptoms are what a person feels and might describe to others, well or poorly. Signs are what others observe. Psychiatry probably boasts the widest and most problematic gap between symptoms and signs.

      It’s where
      “I am experiencing my surroundings in a profoundly fascinating way and I wish you people would just go away. I absolutely do not want to go with you to get check out. I’d rather die.”

      meets

      “Unarmed female on the south bench in Library Park, suicidal. She was talking crazy, said she saw God multiplying in a ‘fractile’ or something. Alternates between laughing and crying. She’s resisting transport, definitely combative at this point after Jones offered to help her into his vehicle.”

      Report comment

  2. My mom needs a sick adult child to “help.” The right kind of therapist might help me learn to set boundaries and say no to her controlling. But those linked to the mental illness system want to keep me dysfunctional just like Mom does. Because of this, I decided a while ago that conventional psycho-therapy was useless at best.

    Report comment

  3. YetAnotherAccount,

    I believe Strange ideas hallucinations and varying moods have always been commonplace among humans. It’s more Present Day Victorian “Logic” that’s not prepared to tolerate the “appearance” of them.

    Report comment

    • Read some hagiographies from the Middle Ages. Those “heroes” would now be locked up and drugged, Once they got out no monastery or convent would accept them because of their “mental illness.” No more St Francis of Assisi, Joan of Ark, etc.

      Audio hallucinations were the order of the day. No mass stabbings either!

      Report comment

  4. In my opinion Psychosis is Psychosis, its not irrational anxiety or a strange idea. I know it’s possible to balance off irrational anxiety with the ‘talking treatments’ whether the anxiety is about being made redundant, or ‘being murdered’.

    Report comment

  5. The “approach” in Nevada and Utah is to lock a patient in a jail-like “hospital”, scam their insurance for thousands of dollars a day, blackmail them into overmedicating (which they keep adjusting to justify keeping you longer to your insurance), and as consequence keeping you from everything you need to manage psychotic symptoms. When I was “psychotic” I desperately needed to write: but I wasn’t allowed to have a pen or anything to type on. I was only given a pencil, for limited time and they often refused to sharpen it. I would lay in bed all night desperately needing to write just one sentence down but unable to I couldn’t sleep and the voices wouldn’t let me forget it, so they would chant.

    If I wanted to do research on some outlandish theory I wasn’t allowed to! This is what helps me get back into reality the most! But I’m not allowed to have books or internet or stable people to bounce ideas off of. I wasn’t allowed music or spending time with people I love and trust and my biggest support in the world (my dog) was taken to the pound as a punishment from my sadistic family.

    I entered into depths of “psychotic symptoms” I know I never would have NOT LOCKED IN THOSE INSTITUTIONS. The extreme, fast cycling delusions I experienced were not natural. And I don’t even think it was the meds. It was my age, experience, and what they were putting me through.

    Most of you people will have no idea. The only ones that do are the ones that saw people completely lost in their own world while in the hospital. That’s what I was. I saw others that before I progressed into it myself two hospitalizations. I thought they were born with it and had it activated through trauma. Not trauma outside the hospital. The hospital creates it 100%.

    And there are very few things more painful than this manufactured psychosis to experience. Most don’t survive. I barely have but if I get locked inside again anytime soon I surely won’t. I gotta stay out at least a year to stay lucid. Otherwise I’m dead.

    Report comment

      • VIOLENCE SUICIDE/HOMICIDE

        About 40% of people on “schizophrenic” medication attempt suicide:-

        https://www.madinamerica.com/2016/11/neuroleptic-drugs-akathisia-suicide-violence/

        I would suggest drug induced Suicides in the UK and in Ireland are being deliberately “denied” as a matter of Routine Medical Policy.

        I would suggest drug induced Suicidal tendency is also being denied in Ireland and the UK, leaving vulnerable people at risk to future Fatality.

        I can back up what I say with documentary evidence:-

        1. An Adverse Drug Reaction Warning Request Letter describing Akathisia dated 8/11/1986 (from my Irish FOI requested MH records).

        2. An Irish Record Summary dated 24/11/1986 sent over from Ireland in Response with Adverse Drug Reaction Warning intentionally OMITTED.

        3. Other Evidence.

        At Present in the UK my Doctor Practice in Central London:- Newton Medical Centre is attempting to “hide” the 1986 Irish Record, while at the same time “denying” the existence of the 1986 Adverse Drug Reaction Warning Request Letter…

        …while at the same time gaslighting my records with this type of silly entry :- “…Eye contact good ….No sign of self neglect….mildly agitated but no sign of thought disorder….” (- October 2012) – totally inapropriate but still on the system.

        Report comment

LEAVE A REPLY