Examining the continuum model of auditory hallucinations: A review of cognitive mechanisms

Abstract

Faced with mounting evidence that auditory hallucinations occur both in health and in psychosis, the continuum model of psychotic symptoms has become the accepted dogma. Despite the dominant influence of this model, careful phenomenological comparison suggests both similarities and differences between nonpsychotic and psychotic voice hearers. Wider recognition of the differences, as well as similarities, of voice hearing and auditory hallucinations in healthy and psychotic individuals, respectively, should encourage clinicians to conduct more detailed assessments of phenomenology and cognition in patients presenting with voices and develop more targeted (i.e., individualized) pharmacological and/or psychosocial interventions as necessary.