TY - JOUR
T1 - Spirituality and hearing voices
T2 - Considering the relation
AU - McCarthy-Jones, Simon
AU - Waegeli, Amanda
AU - Watkins, John
PY - 2013/10
Y1 - 2013/10
N2 - For millennia, some people have heard voices that others cannot hear. These have been variously understood as medical, psychological and spiritual phenomena. In this article we consider the specific role of spirituality in voice-hearing in two ways. First, we examine how spirituality may help or hinder people who hear voices. Benefits are suggested to include offering an alternative meaning to the experience which can give more control and comfort, enabling the development of specific coping strategies, increasing social support, and encouraging forgiveness. Potential drawbacks are noted to include increased distress and reduced control resulting from placing frightening or coercive constructions on voices, social isolation, the development of dysfunctional beliefs, and missed/delayed opportunities for successful mental health interventions. After examining problems surrounding classifying voices as either spiritual or psychotic, we move beyond an essentialist position to examine how such a classification is likely to be fluid, and how a given voice may move between these designations. We also highlight tensions between modernist and postmodernist approaches to voice-hearing.
AB - For millennia, some people have heard voices that others cannot hear. These have been variously understood as medical, psychological and spiritual phenomena. In this article we consider the specific role of spirituality in voice-hearing in two ways. First, we examine how spirituality may help or hinder people who hear voices. Benefits are suggested to include offering an alternative meaning to the experience which can give more control and comfort, enabling the development of specific coping strategies, increasing social support, and encouraging forgiveness. Potential drawbacks are noted to include increased distress and reduced control resulting from placing frightening or coercive constructions on voices, social isolation, the development of dysfunctional beliefs, and missed/delayed opportunities for successful mental health interventions. After examining problems surrounding classifying voices as either spiritual or psychotic, we move beyond an essentialist position to examine how such a classification is likely to be fluid, and how a given voice may move between these designations. We also highlight tensions between modernist and postmodernist approaches to voice-hearing.
KW - auditory verbal hallucinations
KW - Psychosis
KW - schizophrenia
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84886442763&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/17522439.2013.831945
DO - 10.1080/17522439.2013.831945
M3 - Article
C2 - 24273597
AN - SCOPUS:84886442763
VL - 5
SP - 247
EP - 258
JO - Psychosis
JF - Psychosis
SN - 1752-2439
IS - 3
ER -