title: Interdisciplinary approaches to the phenomenology of auditory verbal hallucinations.
abstract: Despite the recent proliferation of scientific, clinical, and narrative accounts of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs), the phenomenology of voice hearing remains opaque and undertheorized. In this article, we outline an interdisciplinary approach to understanding hallucinatory experiences which seeks to demonstrate the value of the humanities and social sciences to advancing knowledge in clinical research and practice. We argue that an interdisciplinary approach to the phenomenology of AVH utilizes rigorous and context-appropriate methodologies to analyze a wider range of first-person accounts of AVH at 3 contextual levels: (1) cultural, social, and historical; (2) experiential; and (3) biographical. We go on to show that there are significant potential benefits for voice hearers, clinicians, and researchers. These include (1) informing the development and refinement of subtypes of hallucinations within and across diagnostic categories; (2) "front-loading" research in cognitive neuroscience; and (3) suggesting new possibilities for therapeutic intervention. In conclusion, we argue that an interdisciplinary approach to the phenomenology of AVH can nourish the ethical core of scientific enquiry by challenging its interpretive paradigms, and offer voice hearers richer, potentially more empowering ways to make sense of their experiences.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Medical Humanities, School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Health, Durham University, Durham, UK; angela.woods@durham.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Woods
authors.affiliation: Lived Experience Research Network, Chicago, IL;
authors.forename: Nev
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Department of English Studies, Durham University, Durham, UK;
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bernini
authors.affiliation: Centre for Medical Humanities, Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, UK;
authors.forename: Felicity
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Callard
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, UK;
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Alderson-Day
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia;
authors.forename: Johanna C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Badcock
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry, Psychosis Studies, King's College London, London, UK;
authors.forename: Vaughan
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.affiliation: Department of Theology and Religion, Durham University, Durham, UK;
authors.forename: Chris C H
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA;
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Csordas
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry, Psychosis Studies, King's College London, London, UK;
authors.forename: Clara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Humpston
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Philosophy and Anthropology, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK;
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Krueger
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology: Cognition and Behaviour, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium;
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Larøi
authors.affiliation: ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognitions and Its Disorders, Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia;
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McCarthy-Jones
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, UK;
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Moseley
authors.affiliation: Centre for Medical Humanities, Department of English Studies, Durham University, Durham, UK;
authors.forename: Hilary
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Powell
authors.affiliation: Department of Mental Health and Pathological Addiction, AUSL Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Raballo
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, UK;
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Smailes
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, UK;
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fernyhough
mesh_terms: D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003469:Culture; D006212:Hallucinations / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D006809:Humanities; D006801:Humans; D008960:Models, Psychological; D012106:Research; D012931:Social Environment; D012942:Social Sciences
keywords: auditory verbal hallucinations; interdisciplinarity; phenomenology; psychosis; research collaboration