Behavioral interventions for alleviating psychotic symptoms

Abstract

Behavioral interventions can augment the effects of antipsychotic medication in alleviating hallucinations, delusions, and conceptual disorganization. Such interventions may be based on operant conditioning and reinforcement strategies and on training in coping skills. Reinforcement strategies have been used to decrease the rate of confused speech, delusional talk, and other psychotic behaviors, but they appear to have little effect on the subjective distress patients experience as a result of such symptoms. Strategies that teach patients skills for coping with psychotic symptoms include cognitive reframing methods, nonconfrontational methods that help patients find alternative explanations for delusions, and use of humming to interfere with subvocal movements of the larynx muscles, which may be related to auditory hallucinations. The authors review studies of the effectiveness of these interventions and suggest an approach integrating reinforcement and training in coping skills that may help reduce psychotic symptoms.