Prevalence of auditory hallucinations in the general population; Coping strategies and mental health

HMN Regional Research Conference Psychiatry Hell June 2012. Abstract for scientific poster Hearing voices in the general population – prevalence, coping strategies, and mental health Kråkvik, B1; Kalhovde, AM2; Larøi, F3; Hugdahl, K4; Vedul-Kjelsås, E5a. Traditionally, hearing voices has been associated with serious psychiatric illness and especially psychotic disorders. However, recent studies in the US, and Europe have shown that people hear voices in the general population. Furthermore, it seems likely that a significant number of those hearing voices in the general population lead normal lives, and function well in society. Decreasing prejudices and taboos related to hearing voices are important issues in this regard. Objectives This is the first community-based prevalence study in Scandinavia, and we aim at giving prevalence figures across age and gender from the general population in Norway. An additional aim is to study coping strategies, mental health, and traumatic life events in the material. Methods A total of 8000 women and men ages18 and over, were randomly recruited in a two-step design with postal questionnaires and subsequent interviews. The Launay-Slade Hallucinations Scale (LSHS, Launay and Slade, 1981; modified version Larøi et al., 2004) was used. Results/Conclusions We expect to find prevalence figures between 2 – 10 %. The relationship between hearing voices, traumatic life events, and mental health should prove interesting. __________________________________________________________________ 1 St Olavs Hospital, Division of Psychiatry, Nidaros DPS, Trondheim, Norway. 2 University Hospital of North Norway, Psychiatric Center for Tromsø and Region, Norway 3 University of Liège, Department of Cognitive Sciences, Cognitive Psychopathology Unit, Belgium 4 University of Bergen, Dept Biological and Medical Psychology, Norway 5 St Olavs Hospital, Division of Psychiatry, Department of Research and Development / Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Department of Neuroscience, Trondheim, Norway aCorresponding author, e-mail: kjein@ntnu.no