Table 1.
A phenomenological comparison of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and schizophrenia.
| Property | PTSD | Schizophrenia-spectrum disorders |
|---|---|---|
| Unpleasant voices | Present, more common than pleasant voices (Anketell et al., 2010; Brewin and Patel, 2010) | Present, more common than pleasant voices (Nayani and David, 1996; Corstens and Longden, 2013; McCarthy-Jones et al., 2014) |
| Pleasant voices | Present, but less common than negative voices (Anketell et al., 2010; Brewin and Patel, 2010) | Present, but less common than negative voices (Nayani and David, 1996; Corstens and Longden, 2013; McCarthy-Jones et al., 2014) |
| Voices issue commands? | Yes (Scott et al., 2007; Anketell et al., 2010) | Yes (Nayani and David, 1996; Corstens and Longden, 2013; McCarthy-Jones et al., 2014) |
| Commands to hurt self | Yes (Anketell et al., 2010) | Yes (Kent and Wahass, 1996) |
| Link to trauma | Only 40% linked voices to earlier traumas (Anketell et al., 2010) | Some but not all linked to trauma (Hardy et al., 2005; Corstens and Longden, 2013) |
| Location | Mostly internally located, but some external and some in both locations (Scott et al., 2007; Anketell et al., 2010) | Approximately equal mix between internal, external, and both (McCarthy-Jones et al., 2014) |
| Clarity | As clear as a real voice (Anketell et al., 2010) | Typically clear or very clear (McCarthy-Jones et al., 2014) |
| Unclear voices | In addition to clear content, may include “garbled voices” (Hamner et al., 2000) | In addition to clear content, may include “nonsense voices” (McCarthy-Jones et al., 2014) |
| Experienced as manifestation of own thoughts | Present in some (Brewin and Patel, 2010) | Present in some (McCarthy-Jones et al., 2014) |
| Gender | Voices are mainly male (Brewin and Patel, 2010) | Voices are mainly male (Corstens and Longden, 2013; McCarthy-Jones et al., 2014) |
| Identity of voice | Most recognized as being that of person known in the real world to the hearer (Anketell et al., 2010; Brewin and Patel, 2010) | Approximately equal mix between known, unknown, and both (McCarthy-Jones et al., 2014) |
| Form of address | Most commonly use ‘you’ (Brewin and Patel, 2010) | Most commonly use ‘you’ (Corstens and Longden, 2013; McCarthy-Jones et al., 2014) |
| Frequency | Voices heard many times a day (Brewin and Patel, 2010) | Most likely to be constantly with the person (McCarthy-Jones et al., 2014) |
| Control | Around a third can control their voices (Brewin and Patel, 2010) | Fifty-one percent can exercise some control over their voices (Nayani and David, 1996) |
| Number of voices heard | May hear one or more voices, and groups of voices (Anketell et al., 2010; Brewin and Patel, 2010) | May hear one or more voices, and groups of voices (Nayani and David, 1996; Corstens and Longden, 2013; McCarthy-Jones et al., 2014) |