Fear of illness recurrence in psychosis
Research type
Research Study
Full title
How are fear of illness recurrence, health behaviours and psychological distress affected by mental defeat and mental health anxiety in people recovering from psychosis?
IRAS ID
216534
Contact name
Taruna Jamalamadaka
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bath
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 0 days
Research summary
The experience of mental health illness can be extremely distressing. Once recovered, the possibility of the illness coming back is an anxiety that most people experience. Research shows that this fear of the illness recurring can make relapse more likely. This is because this fear makes a person unnecessarily aware of changes in their mind and their body, leading them to misinterpret what is happening to them to mean they are relapsing (mental health anxiety). Furthermore, people who are concerned about their mental illness coming back engage in many unhelpful behaviours such as reassurance-seeking, avoidance, distraction, self-criticism, substance use, etc. Fear of an illness recurring may also contribute to a sense of feeling defeated by life (mental defeat).
Mental illnesses can be broadly classified into two categories: Severe mental health problems or common mental health problems. Common mental health problems include anxiety and depression. Psychosis is a set of symptoms that are commonly associated with some of the more severe forms of mental health problems, such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, problematic substance use or some forms of personality disorder. The experience of psychosis can be extremely distressing. The media portrays psychosis and schizophrenia very negatively, and this too contributes to the experience of a person with psychosis.
The present study seeks to compare the fear of mental illness recurring in people who have experienced psychosis with people who have experienced common mental health problems and hypothesises that the group with psychosis will experience greater fear of illness recurrence. Furthermore, the study will also investigate how mental health anxiety, mental defeat, and unhelpful coping behaviours are interlinked with fear of illness recurrence.
REC name
London - London Bridge Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/0068
Date of REC Opinion
20 Feb 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion