Voices of Reason, Voices of Insanity: Studies of Verbal HallucinationsRecords of people experiencing verbal hallucinations or 'hearing voices' can be found throughout history. Voices of Reason, Voices of Insanity examines almost 2,800 years of these reports including Socrates, Schreber and Pierre Janet's "Marcelle", to provide a clear understanding of the experience and how it may have changed over the millenia. Through six cases of historical and contemporary voice hearers, Leudar and Thomas demonstrate how the experience has metamorphosed from being a sign of virtue to a sign of insanity, signalling such illnesses as schizophrenia or dissociation. They argue that the experience is interpreted by the voice hearer according to social categories conveyed through language, and is therefore best studied as a matter of language use. Controversially, they conclude that 'hearing voices' is an ordinary human experience which is unfortunately either mystified or pathologised. Voices of Reason, Voices of Insanity offers a fresh perspective on this enigmatic experience and will be of interest to students, researchers and clinicians alike. |
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Voices of Reason, Voices of Insanity: Studies of Verbal Hallucinations Ivan Leudar,Philip Thomas No preview available - 2000 |
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accept Achilles actions activities aligned Anthony Smith argued argument Athene auditory hallucinations behaviour believed bellowing Bleuler Chapter cognitive cognitive therapy concept consciousness consider daemon Daily Telegraph Daniel Paul Schreber delusions diagnosis dialogues divine emphasis experience of hearing experienced feel formulation generalised gods Guardian article heard hearing voices heroes Homer Horrett Campbell ibid Iliad impulsive individuals informants reported inner speech insane instance introspection James Janet Jaynes journalists kill language Leudar Marcelle Marcelle's Mead mean medication mental health mental illness mother mundane Odysseus ordinary paranoid pathological patients Peg's person Pierre Janet Plutarch polyphony pragmatic presented problem psychiatric psychiatrists psychological psychosis Rampton secure hospital reality-testing reason reflexive response schizophrenic Schreber seen Sheila social Socrates sort speak subjects supernatural symptoms talk therapy things thought verbal hallucinations violence voice hearers voice-talk voices telling voices told words Yeah