The experience and impact of visual hallucinations in ARMS using IPA.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring the experience and impact of visual hallucinations in at-risk mental state (ARMS): using interpretive phenomenological analysis.
IRAS ID
318830
Contact name
Naomi Coulthard
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Teesside University (School of Social Sciences)
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 16 days
Research summary
Visual hallucinations are things that an individual can see when others cannot. Some people who see visual hallucinations are unwell and receive support from mental health services for psychosis. However, not everyone who visually hallucinates is unwell.
Around 7% of non-clinical adults will have visual hallucinations in their lifetime, without needing care from mental health services. Healthy adults report seeing wide-ranging visions, from dots and flashes to fully formed images of people and faces. People make sense of their hallucinations in various ways – some dismiss their experience as ‘not real’, some believe they are ‘going mad’, while others find a cause (e.g., ghost or an aura).
Some people can therefore experience visual hallucinations without harm, but others may be negatively impacted by them. In mental health services, about 27% of people with a diagnosis of psychosis will report visual hallucinations, and they seem more convincing and upsetting. When this population visually hallucinate, they are more likely to experience poorer outcomes, such as more hospital stays and greater likelihood of suicide.
An important group where visual hallucinations have not yet been explored are the At Risk Mental State' (ARMS), whereby people are identified as high risk of psychosis but their experiences are less frequent, convincing and impactful. Although research has identified that people in an ARMS population experience visual hallucinations, we don't know what kinds of experiences people have, how they are impacted by them or how they may transition to clinical psychosis.
This study will conduct detailed interviews with individuals with ARMS to explore what their experiences of visual hallucinations are like and how they are impacted by them. Given experience and impact of visual hallucinations can vary across populations, this is a needed first step, to understand people's perspective of visual hallucinations first-hand, as well as needs and wants pertaining to them.
REC name
London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/LO/0387
Date of REC Opinion
20 Jun 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion