Psychological medicine
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Hallucinations have consistently been associated with traumatic experiences during childhood. This association appears strongest between physical and sexual abuse and auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH). It remains unclear whether traumatic experiences mainly colour the content of AVH or whether childhood trauma triggers the vulnerability to experience hallucinations in general. In order to investigate the association between hallucinations, childhood trauma and the emotional content of hallucinations, experienced trauma and phenomenology of AVH were investigated in non-psychotic individuals and in patients with a psychotic disorder who hear voices. ⋯ These results suggest that sexual and emotional trauma during childhood render a person more vulnerable to experience AVH in general, which can be either positive voices without associated distress or negative voices as part of a psychotic disorder.
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Psychological medicine · Dec 2012
Personality disorders, common mental disorders and receipt of disability benefits: evidence from the British National Survey of Psychiatric Morbidity.
Common mental disorders (CMDs) are associated with occupational impairment and the receipt of disability benefits (DBs). Little is known about the relationship between personality disorders (PDs) and work disability, and whether the association between CMDs and work disability is affected by the presence of co-morbid PDs. The aim of this study was to examine the association between DB and individual categories of PDs, with special attention to the effect of co-morbid CMDs on this association. ⋯ Individuals screening positive for PD are more likely to experience severe occupational outcomes, especially in the presence of co-morbid CMD.